Therapeutic Efficacy of Umbilical Cord MSC-derived Neural Progenitors in a Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease
Author | : |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 0 |
Release | : 2022 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:1433654871 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (71 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Parkinson's disease (PD) affects the dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and is characterized by the accumulation of alpha-synuclein aggregates. There is no treatment for PD. The goal of this research is to develop cell therapies for degenerative diseases such as PD. This study investigated the the potential of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs)-derived DA progenitors (DAPs) to mitigate disease symptoms in a 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) induced PD rat model. The results showed that MSCs differentiated into DAPs, which exhibited neural progenitor-like morphology with neurites. PD rats treated with DAPs significantly improved motor function. Further analysis showed that the transplanted animals had reduced neural pyknosis and upregulated expression of neural-specific (Th, Nurr1, and Lmx1a) and neurotrophic (Bdnf and Gdnf) genes in the brain. Our findings provide an impetus for clinical studies using UC-MSC-derived DAPs to treat PD.