10 In these studies, the cells survived well and differentiated or matured into authentic neurons in the two areas of the brain where neurogenesis normally occurs, the hippocampus and the olfactory bulb. However, the adult stem cells did not readily differentiate into neurons in any other areas. Interestingly, they did differentiate into astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in other areas. This behavior Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of adult stem cells that were expanded in culture and transplanted back to the adult brain contrasts with the behavior of fresh KU-0063794 order tissue derived from the fetal brain that has not been extensively expanded in

culture. Freshly dissociated cells from the fetal brain, if taken at the appropriate time and from the appropriate location, survive and differentiate quite readily into the types of neurons and glial cells from which they were obtained. In fact, the fetal cells have already matured somewhat and have committed themselves to a particular neuronal type; given minimal local environmental signals, they proceed toward their predetermined Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical fates. These properties of fetal tissue make it more amenable to therapeutic applications. For example, in experimental treatments for PD, committed dopamine cells are being taken from fetal substantia nigra for transplantation; in HD treatment, fetal cells are being taken from fetal basal ganglia and transplanted into patients. The irony then is that

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical fetal tissue grafts are more mature than adult stem cells that have been isolated and expanded in culture. The problem with the adult brain is that, outside of the limited number of stem cells,

the adult cells are Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical too mature and will not withstand the isolation and transplantation procedures; they have lost the youthfulness to survive Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and integrate into the adult brain. Part of the problem with fetal tissue is that there are so few cells available that arc at just the right age and in just the right location, which means that either many fetuses must be used for each transplantation or the cells must be put in culture to expand their number. However, once placed in culture, only the primitive fetal stem cells will divide extensively, and, as was seen with adult stem cells, these fetal stem cells are so immature that, unless the adult brain has all the necessary signals to direct them to a particular neural type, ic, a hippocampal neuron, then the cells will either others die or become glial cells or merely persist as stem cells. The way to make both fetal and adult stem cells more useful for therapeutic transplantation applications is to determine what the signals are in development that induce the stem cells to become a particular neuronal type, and then induce the stem cells toward that lineage in a culture dish just far enough so that, once they are subsequently transplanted to a particular part of the brain, they will continue toward that cell type and eventually integrate and replace the missing function.