Morphogenesis of human embryonic stem cells into mature neurons under in vitro culture conditions

Pathophysiological Aspects and Therapeutic Armamentarium of Alzheimer's Disease: Recent Trends and Future Development

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the primary cause of dementia and is characterized by the death of brain cells due to the accumulation of insoluble amyloid plaques, hyperphosphorylation of tau protein, and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles within the cells. AD is also associated with other pathologies such as neuroinflammation, dysfunction of synaptic connections and circuits, disorders in mitochondrial function and energy production, epigenetic changes, and abnormalities in the vascular system. Despite extensive research conducted over the last hundred years, little is established about what causes AD or how to effectively treat it. Given the severity of the disease and the increasing number of affected individuals, there is a critical need to discover effective medications for AD. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved several new drug molecules for AD management since 2003, but these drugs only provide temporary relief of symptoms and do not address the underlying causes of the disease. Currently, available medications focus on correcting the neurotransmitter disruption observed in AD, including cholinesterase inhibitors and an antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, which temporarily alleviates the signs of dementia but does not prevent or reverse the course of AD. Research towards disease-modifying AD treatments is currently underway, including gene therapy, lipid nanoparticles, and dendrimer-based therapy. These innovative approaches aim to target the underlying pathological processes of AD rather than just managing the symptoms. This review discusses the novel aspects of pathogenesis involved in the causation of AD of AD and in recent developments in the therapeutic armamentarium for the treatment of AD such as gene therapy, lipid nanoparticles, and dendrimer-based therapy, and many more.

Embryonic Stem Cells in Clinical Trials: Current Overview of Developments and Challenges

The first isolation of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) reported in the late 90s opened a new window to promising possibilities in the fields of human developmental biology and regenerative medicine. Subsequently, the differentiation of hESC lines into different precursor cells showed their potential in treating different incurable diseases. However, this promising field has consistently had remarkable ethical and experimental limitations. This paper is a review of clinical trial studies dealing with hESC and their advantages, limitations, and other specific concerns. Some of the hESC limitations have been solved, and several clinical trial studies are ongoing so that recent clinical trials have strived to improve the clinical applications of hESC, especially in macular degeneration and neurodegenerative diseases. However, regarding hESC-based therapy, several important issues need more research and discussion. Despite considerable studies to Date, hESC-based therapy is not available for conventional clinical applications, and more studies and data are needed to overcome current clinical and ethical limitations. When all the limitations of Embryonic stem cells (ESC) are wholly resolved, perhaps hESC can become superior to the existing stem cell sources. This overview will be beneficial for understanding the standard and promising applications of cell and tissue-based therapeutic approaches and for developing novel therapeutic applications of hESC.

A review on stem cell therapy for multiple sclerosis: special focus on human embryonic stem cells

Multiple sclerosis (MS), a complex disorder of the central nervous system (CNS), is characterized with axonal loss underlying long-term progressive disability. Currently available therapies for its management are able to slow down the progression but fail to treat it completely. Moreover, these therapies are associated with major CNS and cardiovascular adverse events, and prolonged use of these treatments may cause life-threatening diseases. Recent research has shown that cellular therapies hold a potential for CNS repair and may be able to provide protection from inflammatory damage caused after injury. Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) transplantation is one of the promising cell therapies; hESCs play an important role in remyelination and help in preventing demylenation of the axons. In this study, an overview of the current knowledge about the unique properties of hESC and their comparison with other cell therapies has been presented for the treatment of patients with MS.

A review of the emerging potential therapy for neurological disorders: human embryonic stem cell therapy

The first human embryonic stem cell (hESC) line was developed in the late nineties. hESCs are capable of proliferating indefinitely and differentiate into all the three embryonic germ layers. Further, the differentiation of hESC lines into neural precursor cells and neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes showed their potential in treating several incurable neurological disorders such as spinal cord injury (SCI), cerebral palsy (CP), Parkinson's disease (PD). In this review, we will discuss the global scenario of research and therapeutic use of hESCs in the treatment of neurological disorders. Following this, we will discuss the development of a unique hESC line, how it differs from the other available hESC lines and its use in the treatment of neurological disorders. hESCs were isolated from mixture of neuronal and non-neuronal progenitor cells in their pre progenitor state in a Good Laboratory Practices, Good Tissue Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices compliant laboratory. Blastomere cells have served as a source to derive the hESCs and the xeno-free culture was demonstrated to be more safe and effective in clinical therapeutic application of hESCs. All the patients showed a remarkable improvement in their conditions and no serious adverse events were reported. This study concluded that hESC lines could be scalable and used in the treatment of various neurological disorders such as SCI, CP, and PD.