Regenerative medicine using adult neural stem cells: the potential for diabetes therapy and other pharmaceutical applications
Abstract
Neural stem cells (NSCs), which are responsible for continuous neurogenesis during the adult stage, are present in human adults. The typical neurogenic regions are the hippocampus and the subventricular zone; recent studies have revealed that NSCs also exist in the olfactory bulb. Olfactory bulb-derived neural stem cells (OB NSCs) have the potential to be used in therapeutic applications and can be easily harvested without harm to the patient. Through the combined influence of extrinsic cues and innate programming, adult neurogenesis is a finely regulated process occurring in a specialized cellular environment, a niche. Understanding the regulatory mechanisms of adult NSCs and their cellular niche is not only important to understand the physiological roles of neurogenesis in adulthood, but also to provide the knowledge necessary for developing new therapeutic applications using adult NSCs in other organs with similar regulatory environments. Diabetes is a devastating disease affecting more than 200 million people worldwide. Numerous diabetic patients suffer increased symptom severity after the onset, involving complications such as retinopathy and nephropathy. Therefore, the development of treatments for fundamental diabetes is...Continue Reading
References
The developing CNS: a scenario for the action of proinsulin, insulin and insulin-like growth factors
Differentiation of embryonic stem cells to insulin-secreting structures similar to pancreatic islets
NeuroD-betacellulin gene therapy induces islet neogenesis in the liver and reverses diabetes in mice
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