Stem cells are fascinating cell types. They can replicate themselves forever while retaining the potential to generate progeny with speci?c functions. Because of these special properties, stem cells have been subjects of intensive investigation, from understanding basic mechanisms underlying tissue generation, to modeling human diseases, to application for cell replacement therapy. Stem cells come in different forms. For example, mouse embryonic stem cells can general all cell types in a body, either in a dish or when put back into mouse embryos. On the other hand, neural stem cells in the adult brain generate neurons and glia cells that contribute to the brain’s plasticity. Rapid progress has been made in the stem cell ?eld with discov- ies published in a record speed. A quick Pubmed search has returned 2789 hits for “embryonic stem cells” and 815 hits for “adult neural stem cells/neurogenesis” in the year 2008 alone. It remains a taunting task for all who are interested in stem cells to keep up with rapidly accumulating literatures. The “Perspectives of Stem Cells” by a truly international team of experts provides a timely and invaluable highlight of the stem cell ?eld gearing toward future therapeutic applications in the nervous system. Stem cells with neural potentials have attracted a lot of attention because of their promise for cell replacement therapy, ranging from degenerative neurological dis- ders to spinal cord injuries.
Author(s): Karla Loureiro Almeida, José Abreu, C. Y. Irene Yan (auth.), Henning Ulrich (eds.)
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 290
Tags: Stem Cells; Neurosciences; Developmental Biology; Neurochemistry; Biomedicine general
Front Matter....Pages i-xv
Neural Induction....Pages 1-10
Neurogenesis: A Change of Paradigms....Pages 11-33
Neurogenesis in the Olfactory Epithelium....Pages 35-45
Cell Diversification During Neural Crest Ontogeny: The Neural Crest Stem Cells....Pages 47-58
Intermediate Filament Expression in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells and Early Embryos....Pages 59-72
Aneuploidy in Embryonic Stem Cells....Pages 73-86
Retrotransposition and Neuronal Diversity....Pages 87-96
Directing Differentiation of Embryonic Stem Cells into Distinct Neuronal Subtypes....Pages 97-114
Neurotransmitters as Main Players in the Neural Differentiation and Fate Determination Game....Pages 115-134
Rhythmic Expression of Notch Signaling in Neural Progenitor Cells....Pages 135-143
Neuron-Astroglial Interactions in Cell Fate Commitment in the Central Nervous System....Pages 145-170
The Origin of Microglia and the Development of the Brain....Pages 171-189
Tissue Biology of Proliferation and Cell Death Among Retinal Progenitor Cells....Pages 191-230
Potential Application of Very Small Embryonic Like (VSEL) Stem Cells in Neural Regeneration....Pages 231-243
Embryonic Stem Cell Transplantation for the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease....Pages 245-254
Functional Multipotency of Neural Stem Cells and Its Therapeutic Implications....Pages 255-270
Dual Roles of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Spinal Cord Injury: Cell Replacement Therapy and as a Model System to Understand Axonal Repair....Pages 271-284
Back Matter....Pages 285-290
