Novartis Foundation Symposium 231 - Neural Transplantation In Neurodegenerative Disease - Current Status And New Directions

The field of neural transplantation is at a crucial stage, with important clinical trials on transplantation in patients with Parkinson's disease nearing completion and novel, alternative approaches to fetal transplantation being developed.

This timely book brings together leading neuroscientists, clinicians, and cell and developmental biologists to discuss the use of neural transplants in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's chorea, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury. There is also extensive coverage of the potential alternatives to freshly derived fetal tissue as the source of transplants, for example xenografts, encapsulated cells and immortalized stem cells. With authoritative contributions and lively discussion sections, this book presents much new and exciting work in this field and identifies promising new research directions.

Introduction (J. Gray).

Cell Replacement Strategies for Neurodegenerative Disorders (A. Bj?rklund).

Functional Analysis of Fronto-Striatal Reconstruction by Striatal Grafts (S. Dunnett).

Functional Reconstruction of the Hippocampus: Fetal Versus Conditionally Immortal Neuroepithelial Stem Cell Grafts (H. Hodges, et al.).

Gene Transfer for Neuroprotection in Animal Models of Parkinson's Disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (M. Bohn, et al.).

Repair of Corticospinal Axons by Transplantation of Olfactory Ensheathing Cells (G. Raisman).

Neural Transplantation in Parkinson's Disease (O. Lindvall).

Transplantation of Human Fetal Striatal Tissue in Huntington's Disease: Rationale for Clinical Studies (T. Freeman, et al.).

GENERAL DISCUSSION I: PROSPECTS FOR FETAL TRANSPLANTS.

Neurotransplantation in Neurodegenerative Disease: A Survey of Relevant Issues in Developmental Neurobiology (J. Price, et al.).

Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms in Immune Rejection of Intracerebral Neural Transplants (T. Brevig, et al.).

Porcine Neural Xenografts: What are the Issues? (R. Barker).

Gene Transfer Techniques for the Delivery of GDNF in Parkinson's Disease (J.-L. Ridet, et al.).

Neurogenesis in the Adult Hippocampus (G. Kempermann & F. Gage).

Neural Stem Cells are Uniquely Suited for Cell Replacement and Gene Therapy in the CNS (V. Ourednik, et al.).

Functional Repair with Neural Stem Cells (J. Sinden, et al.).

Remyelinating the Demyelinated CNS (W. Blakemore, et al.).

GENERAL DISCUSSION II: THE ES CELL APPROACH.

FINAL DISCUSSION: THE FUTURE FOR FETAL GRAFTS;
STEM CELL STRATEGIES.

Index of Contributors.

Subject Index.