Fetal striatum- and ventral mesencephalon-derived expanded neurospheres rescue dopaminergic neurons in vitro and the nigro-striatal system in vivo

Abstract

The pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) involves ongoing apoptotic loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Local delivery of the trophic factors can rescue dopaminergic neurons and halt the progression of PD. In this study we show that fetal E11 striatum-derived neurospheres and E14.5 ventral mesencephalon (VM) -derived neurospheres (NSE11 and NSvm, respectively) are a source of factors that rescue dopaminergic neurons. First, long-term expanded NSE11 and NSvm rescued primary dopaminergic neurons from serum-deprivation induced apoptosis and promoted survival of dopaminergic neurons for 14 days in vitro and this effect was due to soluble contact-independent fa..