Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells in Neurological Diseases: Stones or Masons?

In spite of the commonly held belief that 'the brain does not regenerate', it is now accepted that postnatal neurogenesis does occur. Thus, one wonders whether cellular-replacement therapy might be used to heal the brain in diseases caused by neuronal cell loss. The existence of neural stem cells has been demonstrated by many scientists and is now generally accepted. The exact role of these cells, how their numbers are regulated and how they participate in CNS and spinal cord regeneration in postnatal life are still not well known. There are many reviews summarizing work on these cells; consequently, I will focus instead on other cells that may participate in postnatal neurogenesis: bone marrow-derived stem cells. The possibility that bone marrow-derived stem cells populate the CNS and differentiate into various neural elements is certainly not universally accepted.