Strategies to Upgrade the Stem Cell Application for Brain Transplantation

Introduction: Cerebral stem cellStem cell transplantation has the potential to replace dead cells and restore lost brain functions in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s disease. However, success has been highly limited by poor survival, migrationMigration, differentiationDifferentiation, and functional integrationFunctional integration of the transplanted cells. Methods: A thorough literature review was performed on PubMed and Web of Science using the keywords “stem cellStem cell brain transplantation”, “migrationMigration”, “survival”, and “differentiationDifferentiation”. Results were selected based on relevance to the topic of this chapter. Results: Several strategies to improve the therapeutic impact of stem cellStem cell transplantation in brain diseases have been tested with some success. These include modulation of the extracellular matrixExtracellular matrix and neuroinflammation, co-transplantation with other cell types such as astrocytes and endothelial cells, cell patterningCell patterning, reduction of apoptotic cell death, and the use of neurotrophic factorsNeurotrophic factors alongside with cell transplantation. These different approaches show promising results in promoting cell survival, migrationMigration, differentiationDifferentiation, and functional integrationFunctional integration. Conclusion: Significant improvements in cell therapy strategies for brain diseases have been reported. However, further research is required to determine whether a single strategy is possible to be implemented or whether these strategies must be customized for each disease to develop safe and effective cell-based treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.