Application of Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Age-related Neuronal Diseases

Adult stem cells and their potential in clinical applications have been intensively investigated in the past decade. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent adult tissue stem cells: Bone marrow, cord blood, umbilical cord, and recently, adipose tissues are used as major sources of MSCs. Because of less ethical concerns as well as easier cell culture to propagate, MSC-based therapies sound promising for clinical settings. Several groups have demonstrated MSCs’ potential to differentiate into neurogenic lineage. This capability prompts us to apply MSCs for regeneration or replacement of damages neuronal cells in the brain. However, their application may be severely limited by the physical barrier-blood-brain barrier-under certain situations. In addition to neuronal differentiation capacity of MSCs, some of soluble factors released by MSCs may be beneficial to mitigate neuronal diseases. In this short review, I would like to discuss how we could utilize MSCs for the treatment of two major age-related neuronal diseases, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.