2009 ABSTRACTS - Universität Leipzig

stem cell therapies for neurological disorders
5 Stem Cell Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease
Patrick Brundin
The prospect of cell replacement therapy for neurological disorders has generated a great
deal of excitement. Cell transplantation has been tested in, e.g., Parkinson’s disease (PD),
Huntington’s disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord damage. I will primarily
review neural transplantation in PD over the past two decades, and describe the main obstacles
that currently prevent transfer of the technology into an established treatment.
In my presentation I will also discuss our recent observations that grafted neurons can develop
Lewy bodies, which are the neuropathological hallmark of PD, and what the implications of
these findings are for the field of cell transplantation. Further, I will describe our current
attempts to obtain high numbers of dopaminergic neurons from stem cells. For example, we
attempt to control cell division after the stem cell-derived neurons are transplanted, in order
to avoid tumor/teratoma formation. We use knowledge from the developmental biology of
midbrain dopamine neurons both to increase the yield of dopaminergic neurons and to limited
uncontrolled growth of grafts. A safe and reproducible supply of cells is necessary for future
systematic, large-scale clinical trials. Only after such trials will we know whether neural cell
grafting has a place in the therapeutic arsenal against PD.
Prof. Dr. Patrick Brundin
Lund University
Wallenberg Neuroscience Center
Neuronal Survival Unit
Department of Experimental Medical Science
patrik.brundin@med.lu.se
www.med.lu.se/expmed/neuronal_survival_unit
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