In vitro and in vivo characterization of neural progenitor cells as putative candidates for experimental studies and clinical trials in cell replacement therapy for neurodegenerative diseases

Fetal conditionally immortalized striatal cells ST14A and human mesencephalic neural progenitor cells (NPCs) were studied with respect to proliferation and differentiation in in vitro experiments. In in vivo experiments, human NPCs were investigated after transplantation into neonatal and adult hemiparkinsonian rat striatum. The survival, migration and dopaminergic (DAergic) differentiation of human NPCs in the host brain was investigated. Improvement in lesion-induced motor impairment has been demonstrated in both groups of hemiparkinsonian rats, independently from DA-ergic differentiation.In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden fetale immortalisierte Zellen der Linie ST14 A und humane mesenzephale Progenitorzellen (NPC) in vitro untersucht. In in vivo-Experimenten wurden die humanen NPC nach Transplantation in das Striatum neonataler oder adulter Heminparkinson-Ratten untersucht. In diesen Transplantationsstudien lag der Hauptaspekt auf dem Überleben, der Migration und der dopaminergen Differenzierung der humanen NPC im Wirtsgewebe. Eine Verbesserung des motorischen Verhaltens konnte in beiden Transplantationsmodellen gezeigt werden, unabhängig von dopaminerger Differenzierung