J Korean Neurosurg Soc.
2003 Jan;33(1):1-12.
Stem Cells and Neurosurgery
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Neurosurgery, Daejeon St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea. leeilwoo@djwungmo.com
Abstract
- Stem cells are defined as cells that have the ability of self-renewal and potentiality to differentiate into multilineage cells. Recently those stem cells have been isolated from the embryos, fetuses, and even in the adult tissues of the mammalians including humans. Stem cells have great potential as therapeutic tools for various disorders resulted from disruption of cellular function or destruction of body tissues, including heart diseases, diabetes, burns, strokes, spinal cord injuries and many other neurodegenerative diseases. Especially, the central nervous system, unlike many other tissues, has a limited capacity of self repair, the cell transplantation with neuronal stem cells can be the most promising treatment for the neurodegenerative diseases or the central nervous system injuries. The author reviewed the current research trends related with stem cells and discussed the feasibilities and the limitations of the cell therapy for several neurological disorders by using various kinds of stem cells. The roles of neurosurgeons in this field are also discussed.
