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This Article Free via Open Access: OA OA Full Text Full Text (PDF) OA All Versions of this Article: 2008-0074v1 26/8/2183    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 Murrell, W. Articles by Mackay-Sim, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Murrell, W. Articles by Mackay-Sim, A.

TRANSLATIONAL AND CLINICAL RESEARCH

Olfactory Mucosa Is a Potential Source for Autologous Stem Cell Therapy for Parkinson's Disease

^aNational Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research, Eskitis Institute for Cell and Molecular Therapies, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia;
^bNICN, CNRS UMR6184, IFR Jean Roche & Centre d'Investigations Cliniques en Biothérapie CIC-B 150, AP-HM-Institut Paoli Calmettes-Inserm, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France;
^cSchool of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;
^dDepartment of Otolaryngology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia;
^eSchool of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Key Words. Parkinson's disease • Olfactory stem cell • Autologous cell therapy • Dopaminergic

Correspondence: Correspondence: Wayne Murrell, B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D., Vilhelm Magnus Center, Institute for Surgical Research, Rikshospital, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway 0027. Telephone: 47-23071405; Fax: 47-23071397; e-mail: Wayne.Murrell{at}rr-research.no

Received on January 24, 2008; accepted for publication on May 23, 2008.

First published online in STEM CELLS EXPRESS  June 5, 2008.

Parkinson's disease is a complex disorder characterized by degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra in the brain. Stem cell transplantation is aimed at replacing dopaminergic neurons because the most successful drug therapies affect these neurons and their synaptic targets. We show here that neural progenitors can be grown from the olfactory organ of humans, including those with Parkinson's disease. These neural progenitors proliferated and generated dopaminergic cells in vitro. They also generated dopaminergic cells when transplanted into the brain and reduced the behavioral asymmetry induced by ablation of the dopaminergic neurons in the rat model of Parkinson's disease. Our results indicate that Parkinson's patients could provide their own source of neuronal progenitors for cell transplantation therapies and for direct investigation of the biology and treatments of Parkinson's disease.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.