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World J Stem Cells. Mar 26, 2015; 7(2): 477-482
Published online Mar 26, 2015. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i2.477
Adult stem cells in neural repair: Current options, limitations and perspectives
Eric Domingos Mariano, Manoel Jacobsen Teixeira, Suely Kazue Nagahashi Marie, Guilherme Lepski
Eric Domingos Mariano, Suely Kazue Nagahashi Marie, Guilherme Lepski, Department of Neurology, Medicine School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo SP 01246-903, Brazil
Eric Domingos Mariano, Suely Kazue Nagahashi Marie, Guilherme Lepski, Center for Cellular and Molecular Studies and Therapy-NAP-NETCEM, University of São Paulo, São Paulo SP 01246-903, Brazil
Manoel Jacobsen Teixeira, Department of Neurosurgery, Medicine School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo SP 01246-903, Brazil
Guilherme Lepski, Department of Neurosurgery, Eberhard-Karls University, 72074 Tuebingen, Germany
Author contributions: All authors had contributed significantly to this report.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Guilherme Lepski, MD, Department of Neurology, Medicine School, University of São Paulo, Avenida Doutor Arnaldo 455, LIM 15, 4th Floor, Cerqueira Cesar, São Paulo SP 01246-903, Brazil. lepski@usp.br
Telephone: +55-11-30618559 Fax: +55-11-30617471
Received: July 29, 2014
Peer-review started: July 29, 2014
First decision: September 16, 2014
Revised: October 27, 2014
Accepted: October 31, 2014
Article in press: November 3, 2014
Published online: March 26, 2015
Abstract

Stem cells represent a promising step for the future of regenerative medicine. As they are able to differentiate into any cell type, tissue or organ, these cells are great candidates for treatments against the worst diseases that defy doctors and researchers around the world. Stem cells can be divided into three main groups: (1) embryonic stem cells; (2) fetal stem cells; and (3) adult stem cells. In terms of their capacity for proliferation, stem cells are also classified as totipotent, pluripotent or multipotent. Adult stem cells, also known as somatic cells, are found in various regions of the adult organism, such as bone marrow, skin, eyes, viscera and brain. They can differentiate into unipotent cells of the residing tissue, generally for the purpose of repair. These cells represent an excellent choice in regenerative medicine, every patient can be a donor of adult stem cells to provide a more customized and efficient therapy against various diseases, in other words, they allow the opportunity of autologous transplantation. But in order to start clinical trials and achieve great results, we need to understand how these cells interact with the host tissue, how they can manipulate or be manipulated by the microenvironment where they will be transplanted and for how long they can maintain their multipotent state to provide a full regeneration.

Keywords: Stem cells, Stem cell therapy, Adult stem cells, Neural stem cells, Bone marrow stem cells, Mesenchymal stem cells, Olfactory ensheathing cells

Core tip: Adult stem cells are useful tools to treat various diseases, but we must first comprehend how they work to use their capacity at maximum. Ageing, inflammation, other stem cells of the host tissue and the co-transplantation with another stem cells type can change their profile and compromise the regeneration process. Having these barriers in mind, several researchers started to look more closely to adult stem cells. In this review we will show some interesting results from experimental and clinical trials at this group of stem cells.