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Therapeutic Potential of Stem Cells in

Neurodegenerative Diseases

Zihni Onur Çalışkaner

Biruni University, İstanbul, Turkiye

Stem cells have been under a continuous spotlight in recent years. Stem cells

have expedited countless achievements in the life sciences. The unique proper-

ties of stem cells make them fantastic cellular tools for regenerative medicine,

tissue engineering, biological modeling, drug screening, and studying molec-

ular mechanisms. Current advances in stem cell technology have also paved

the way for revolutionary breakthroughs in neurodegenerative disease research

at translational and clinical levels, such as developing personalized therapies,

modeling disease-specific conditions to obtain deeper insights, etc. In brief,

stem cells appear promising for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases,

with an increasing number of patients suffering day by day.

2.1

Introduction

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the progressive deterioration

or loss of neurons located in the brain and spinal cord. Neurodegenerative

disorders are caused by acute or chronic neurodegeneration in the nervous

system. While acute neurodegeneration can arise from acute or temporal fac-

tors, such as strong strikes, cerebral hemorrhage, infection, and inflammation,

chronic neurodegeneration appears as a result of progressive loss of specific

neuron types over a longer period of time and aging. Although there are

several neurodegenerative diseases related to different physiological, clinical,

and molecular hallmarks, advanced phases of these disorders result in severe

cognitive problems with physical disabilities like memory loss, downgraded

intellectual capacity, speech impediment, impaired balance, loss of reflexes,

stiffness of the joints, and tremors. As reported, approximately 15% of the

global human population suffers from neurodegenerative diseases, and the

DOI: 10.1201/9781003461906-2

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