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OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

This Article Free via Open Access: OA OA Full Text Full Text (PDF) OA All Versions of this Article: 2006-0364v1 25/2/263    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Geraerts, M. Articles by Baekelandt, V. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Geraerts, M. Articles by Baekelandt, V.

TISSUE-SPECIFIC STEM CELLS

Concise Review: Therapeutic Strategies for Parkinson Disease Based on the Modulation of Adult Neurogenesis

^aLaboratory for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Interdisciplinary Research Center, Campus Kortrijk, Flanders, Belgium;
^bLaboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Flanders, Belgium

Key Words. Neurogenesis • Parkinson disease • Adult neural stem cell • Cell therapy

Correspondence: Zeger Debyser, M.D., Ph.D., Laboratory for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Division of Molecular Medicine, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 33, VCTB +5, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Telephone: 32-16-33-21-83; Fax: 32-16-33-63-36; e-mail: Zeger.Debyser{at}med.kuleuven.be

Received June 13, 2006; accepted for publication October 30, 2006.
First published online in STEM CELLS EXPRESS   November 2, 2006.



Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions of people worldwide. To date, treatment strategies are mainly symptomatic and aimed at increasing dopamine levels in the degenerating nigrostriatal system. Hope rests upon the development of effective neurorestorative or neuroregenerative therapies based on gene and stem cell therapy or a combination of both. The results of experimental therapies based on transplanting exogenous dopamine-rich fetal cells or glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor overexpression into the brain of Parkinson disease patients encourage future cell- and gene-based strategies. The endogenous neural stem cells of the adult brain provide an alternative and attractive cell source for neuroregeneration. Prior to designing endogenous stem cell therapies, the possible impact of PD on adult neuronal stem cell pools and their neurogenic potential must be investigated. We review the experimental data obtained in animal models or based on analysis of patients' brains prior to describing different treatment strategies. Strategies aimed at enhancing neuronal stem cell proliferation and/or differentiation in the striatum or the substantia nigra will have to be compared in animal models and selected prior to clinical studies.