Cell and Gene Therapies in Neurodegenerative Disorders

Dear Colleagues,

Neurodegenerative diseases involve a progressive decline in neuronal function and brain atrophy and often involve the abnormal deposition of proteins. Although various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and multiple system atrophy (MSA) occur in different brain regions and display different etiology, cumulative data suggest common cellular and molecular mechanisms. Although there have been immense efforts to develop therapies for neurodegenerative diseases throughout the last several decades, effective therapeutic agents are still needed. Among the most attractive channels for treating these diseases, in recent years, are mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). MSCs are adult multipotent progenitors derived from various adult tissues and are capable of self‐renewal in vitro. Upon growth in culture, MSCs are able to greatly expand while retaining their multipotent potential. Moreover, upon transplantation, MSCs possess the capability to cross the brain–blood barrier (BBB) and migrate toward neural lesions, presumably due to attraction by chemokines. Paracrine secretion from these cells offers broad clinical potential by regulating immunomodulation, angiogenesis, apoptosis, oxidative stress, cell differentiation, and extracellular matrix composition. These advantages define these cells as the most effective source of safe cell-based therapy.
This Special Issue aims to deepen the specificity of predictors across several issues in the biology of MSCs, as well as other cells, and the theoretical and practical considerations of the usage of these cells in neurodegenerative diseases and other neurological disorders. It will also discuss the recent advances in gene therapy based on gene insertion or genetic editing in these pathologies.
I look forward to receiving your submissions for this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Daniel Offen
Guest Editor

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• mesenchymal stem cells
• exosomes
• neurodegenerative diseases
• neurotrauma and stroke
• neurodevelopmental diseases
• spinal cord injury
• cell therapy
• gene therapy and gene editing