Challenges in Neurorestoration: A Special Issue for the 14th Annual American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair (ASNTR) Meeting

The neuroscientist's melting pot: immunology, cell transplantation and other delivery systems, and enlightenment of disease etiology and treatment

A snapshot of the current state of play with respect to a number of neurological disease causes and their potential treatments from a cell transplantation perspective, was provided at the 14th annual meeting of American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair (ASNTR). Parkinson's disease and related studies were heavily featured, with Alzheimer's disease, aging and spinal cord injury also proving to be well represented. A number of studies looked at different delivery systems including stem cells or adeno-associated virus vectors, both as proof-of-principles and also their potential as treatments, delivering neurotrophic factors. 'Simple' ways to help battle these disorders, such as dietary modification or supplementation were also revealed. Transplantation was explored both in vivo and in cell culture, where ways to improve cell survival or cause differentiation were investigated. A few reports also shed light on the likelihood of an immune response following transplantation, an important consideration for any potential treatment.