Abstract
Parkinson's disease is a chronic and progressive neurological disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Conventional stereotactic surgery has been performed as surgical therapy and cell grafting into the brain is the newest surgical therapy for that disorder. In order to deliver dopamine or neurotrophic factors into the host striatum, several types of cell lines have been created.
The merits of using cell lines as donors for neural grafting are that they are unlimited as donor source theoretically and they can be genetically modified. However, when using cell lines as donors, immunological rejection and tumor formation should be controlled. To overcome these issues, encapsulated cell grafting technique using semipermeable membrane consisted of polymer has been developed. This technique also has safety because the capsule is retrievable after transplantation. In this mini-review, encapsulated cell grafting research using neurotransmitter and/or neurotrophic factor secreting cell lines will be summarized and future perspectives will be performed from the aspects of therapy for neurological disorders.
