Cell Therapy Using GABAergic Neural Progenitors

Excerpt

Cell transplantation may repair neural circuits in the epileptic brain. Grafted cells should disperse, migrate and functionally integrate. Generation of inhibitory interneurons with these abilities could be therapeutic in a condition of abnormal neuronal hyperexcitability i.e., epilepsy. This review will discuss recent efforts to isolate and transplant interneuron precursor cells derived from the medial ganglionic eminence.

It is proposed, first, to give a general account of the origin of inhibitory interneurons with special reference to the medial ganglionic eminence (MGE). It will be recognized that young neurons born in the MGE can migrate a long distance and give rise to several interneuron sub-types following transplantation into the postnatal brain. Following this initial treatment, there will be an account of the functional integration of transplanted MGE cells more relevant to the treatment of epilepsy, namely the ability to integrate as mature interneurons, increase GABA-mediated inhibition in host circuits and ameliorate epileptic phenotypes. Finally, we will then give an account of novel approaches to generate MGE-like cell lines from embryonic stem cells.