Restoring lost nigrostriatal fibers in Parkinson's disease based on clinically-inspired design criteria.

ABSTRACT: Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease affecting around 10 million people worldwide. The death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the axonal fibers that constitute the nigrostriatal pathway leads to a loss of dopamine in the striatum that causes the motor symptoms of this disease. Traditional treatments have focused on reducing symptoms, while therapies with human fetal or stem cell-derived neurons have centered on implanting these cells in the striatum to restore its innervation. An alternative approach is pathway reconstruction, which aims to rebuild the entire structure of neurons and axonal fibers of the nigrostriatal pathway in a way that matches its anatomy and physiology. This type of repair could be more capable of reestablishing the signaling mechanism

SUBMITTER: Gordian-Velez WJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8404430 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature