Ashok Chakraborty, Anil Diwan
Neural cells being dopaminergic can be used for cell replacement therapy of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). PD results when Dopamine release in the brain becomes less due to the death of neural cells. Therefore, replacement of neural cells in the brain if can be done from outside, is believed to restore the Dopamine level that can combat the PD-related symptoms. Neural stem cells (NSCs) is a better choice than many other cells that can also be thought for the same purposes (recently reviewed by Chakraborty and Diwan). Further, equipped with the systems in maintaining the controlled level of dopamine, these hNSC cells do not cause any future dopamine–associated problems, like dyskinesia, motor neuron defect in the individual. However, NSCs grow very slowly and senescence occur after few passages, therefore practically may not be feasible to collect many cells for the treatment of a number PD patients. Here we will discuss an option to modify the cells for its better growth and survival length as well as it's dopaminergic ability. Cell-Cell interaction are commonly known to modify the cells, and may be considered for the above purpose.