Functional Neural Transplantation III

Dunnett is a behavioural neuroscientist who started a lifelong collaboration with the Björklund team in 1979 to explore the functional consequences of cell transplantation method in animal models of neurodegenerative disease, in particular involving cell replacement and repair of the basal ganglia. He has developed models and novel methods of motor and cognitive assessment to apply behavioural analysis not simply to assess functional efficacy of implanted cells, but as a tool to study the mechanisms of cell integration, circuit reconstruction and functional repair. In parallel his laboratory originated the first UK trial of cell transplantation in Huntington’s disease, and provides the source of clinical grade cells for further ongoing trials in Parkinson’s disease. As a neuroanatomist and developmental neurobiologist, during the 1970s Björklund’s lab originated reliable methods for transplantation of embryonic tissues into brain that pioneered practical cell transplantation in the central nervous system, providing the basis for technologies that are now used by laboratories world-wide. In parallel, work in the field has progressed from basic anatomical and developmental studies in experimental animals, via applications for assessing cell replacement and repair using primary and stem cells in the damaged brain, and now underpinning the majority of methods in development for cell therapy in patients. His laboratory continues to analyse the fundamental neurobiology and principles of cell transplantation, regeneration and integration in the CNS, as well as originating the first trials of effective clinical cell transplantation (for Parkinson’s disease) in patients

Preface
Stephen Dunnett and Anders Björklund

Transplantation in the Future
Fred H. Gage

Ethical Challenges for Using Human Cells in Clinical Cell Therapy
Göran Hermerén

Banking Stem Cells for Research and Clinical Applications
Glyn Stacey

Survival, Differentiation and Connectivity of Ventral Mesencephalic Dopamine Neurons following Transplantation
Lachlan Thompson and Anders Björklund

Electrophysiological Investigations of Synaptic Connectivity between Host and Graft Neurons
Jan Tønnesen and Merab Kokaia

Nigral Grafts in Animal Models of Parkinson’s Disease. Is Recovery beyond Motor Function Possible?
Mariah J. Lelos, Eilís Dowd and Stephen B. Dunnett

L-DOPA- and Graft-Induced Dyskinesia following Transplantation
Emma L. Lane and Christian Winkler

Current Status of Clinical Trials of Neural Transplantation in Parkinson’s Disease
Jonathan R Evans, Sarah L Mason and Roger A Barker

In vivo Imaging of the Integration and Function of Nigral Grafts in Clinical Trials
Marios Politis and Paola Piccini

Neuropathology in Transplants in Parkinson’s Disease: Implications for Disease Pathogenesis and the Future of Cell Therapy
Patrik Brundin and Jeffrey H. Kordower

Derivation of Dopaminergic Neurons from Pluripotent Stem Cells
Lorenz Studer

Characterization and Criteria of Embryonic Stem and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for a Dopamine Replacement Therapy
Oliver Cooper, Malin Parmar and Ole Isacson

Skilled Motor Control for the Preclinical Assessment of Functional Deficits and Recovery following Nigral and Striatal Cell Transplantation
Alexander Klein and Ian Q. Whishaw

Role of Experience, Training and Plasticity in the Functional Efficacy of Striatal Transplants
Máté D. Döbrössy and Guido Nikkhah

In vivo Imaging of Integration and Function of Striatal Grafts in Rodent and Non-Human Primate Animal Models
Philippe Hantraye and Romina Aron Badin

Clinical Trials of Neural Transplantation in Huntington’s Disease
Anne E. Rosser and Anne-Catherine Bachoud-Lévi

Derivation of Striatal Neurons from Human Stem Cells Pedro Viegas, Camille Nicoleau and Anselme L. Perrier