Neurogenic Stem Cells Have the Capacity to Disperse Widely and Fuse with Host Neurons in Adult Rats

The central nervous system (CNS) has a relatively limited capacity for neurogenesis, and self-repair. As a result, diseases that produce neural losses are particularly devastating. The greater the amount of neural tissue loss, the greater the impact on the functioning of the patient. Traumatic brain injury and degenerative CNS diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and intractable temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), are clinical challenges that could benefit from the development of cell replacement therapies. For these patient populations, the ability to replace lost brain tissue with functional neurons and glia, is an ambitious, but worthwhile goal. Embryonic stem cells (ESC) that can be genetically engineered, propagated and differentiated, or "neuralized", for subsequent transplantation into the central nervous system, would offer a means to accomplish this important goal.