Topics and Speakers Hynek Wichterle, PhD
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Synopsis
In this lecture, Hynek Wichterle examines the important and timely topic of neural stem cells—what they are, what they can and cannot do, and what promise they hold for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
First, he introduces stem cells and stem cell biology. As he points out, the two defining features of stem cells are their capacity for self-renewal and their ability to differentiate into specific cell types of the adult organism. Contrary to the long-standing assumption that very few cells divide in the adult nervous system, recent studies have shown that large numbers of dividing cells do exist in the central nervous system. This finding has led to increased research in how neural stem cell differentiation works.
While the potential of adult stem cells is fairly limited, cells in the developing nervous system have the ability to give rise to a larger number of cells. For this reason, researchers are increasingly investigating the broader potential of embryonic stem cells to derive different types of nerve cells. Wichterle illustrates this concept with concrete examples of studies in progress at his laboratory.
This discovery opens the door toward investigations into how to harness neural stem cells for clinical applications. Wichterle reviews several prominent neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, and Lou Gehrig's disease, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. The hallmark of each of these diseases is that in each a specific subset of nerve cells is affected. Thus, Wichterle argues, learning to use stem cells for neural regeneration will be crucial in developing effective therapies for these diseases.
