Dopamine cell transplantation in Parkinson's disease: challenge and perspective.
Review
Overview
abstract
BACKGROUND: Functional imaging provides a valuable adjunct to clinical evaluation for assessing the efficacy of cell-based restorative therapies in Parkinson's disease (PD). SOURCES OF DATA: In this article, we review the latest advances on the use of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in evaluating the surgical outcome of embryonic dopamine (DA) cell transplantation in PD patients. AREAS OF AGREEMENT: These studies suggest long-term cell survival and clinical benefit following striatal transplantation of fetal nigral tissue in PD patients and in models of experimental parkinsonism. AREAS OF CONTROVERSY: Adverse events subsequent to transplantation have also been noted and attributed to a variety of causes. GROWING POINTS: Optimal outcomes of DA cell transplantation therapies are dependent on tissue composition and phenotype of DA neurons in the graft. AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH: Given continued progress in DA neuron production from stem cells in recent years, transplantation of neural stem cells may be the next to enter clinical trials in patients. CONCLUSION: The existing data from studies of embryonic DA transplantation for advanced PD have provided valuable insights for the design of new cell-based therapies for the treatment of this and related neurodegenerative disorders.
