Fred Gage Knihy

Alzheimer's disease is one of the major scientific, medical and social challenges of our time. This book (the third volume of proceedings of the Colloques Médecine et Recherche of the Fondation Ipsen pour la Recherche Thérapeutique) is dedicated to neuronal grafting and Alzheimer's disease. The wealth of basic information presented testifies to the progress that has been achieved in intracerebral grafting and to the utility of intracerebral grafting as a tool for the understanding of brain development, adult neuronal plasticity and age-related pathology. An answer to the question, whether neuronal grafting will be useful as a therapy for Alzheimer's disease, must wait for a better understanding of the disease and the identification of animal models that can be used to test potential therapies. Meanwhile, the tool of intracerebral grafting may, in the future, be used to address the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease.

Recent advances in Programming Somatic Cell (PSC), including induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS) and Induced Neuronal phenotypes (iN), have transformed our experimental landscape, enabling the study of human neuronal function and neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases in live human neurons. Reprogramming cells from patients with neurological disorders allows researchers to investigate molecular pathways specific to various neuron subtypes, such as dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s Disease and motor neurons in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Identifying disease-specific molecular signatures in live human brain cells paves the way for early intervention therapies and new diagnostic tools. Once the neurological phenotype is established in vitro, the “disease-in-a-dish” approach facilitates drug screening to alleviate disease-specific conditions. Therapeutic drugs may target generalized pathways or be tailored for individual patients, supporting personalized medicine. However, several challenges must be addressed before PSC technology can be widely applied for clinically relevant modeling of neurological diseases. These include variability in PSC generation methods, individual differences, epigenetic/genetic instability, and the need for disease-relevant neuron subtypes. Current differentiation protocols are evolving, but further development is essential to enhance the generation and monitoring of specific neuron subt

This Fondation IPSEN Colloque Médecine et Recherche was devoted to the interface between the complexity of brain organization and function, the mechanisms for generating diversity and genetic mobility. The goal was to expand the current limits of research in neurobiology not only to the benefit of those interested in the cellular and molecular processes but also for the understanding of high-level cognitive functions and the understanding of complex mental diseases.

After 40 years of research, scientists have confirmed that persistent neurogenesis occurs in the adult mammalian brain. The obvious next question is: „Are the newly generated neurons functional?“ If so, „What are the functions of these new neurons?“ This volume intends to clarify both questions by providing the latest data available.

This volume is based on a meeting of the Fondation IPSEN, held in Paris on September 18, 1995, focusing on the biology of nervous system stem cells. Unlike other tissues, the nervous system has a limited ability to replace damaged cells. Most neurons in the adult central nervous system are terminally differentiated and do not regenerate. However, some regions of the postnatal brain, such as the adult hippocampus, continue to produce new neurons. The fate and longevity of these newly formed cells are not well understood. Evidence suggests that small populations of neurons are generated in the adult ventricular zone, olfactory epithelium, and hippocampus. In the adult hippocampus, new neurons arise from putative stem cells in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus, differentiating into neurons within a month. This neurogenesis persists throughout the rodent's adult life. By investigating the nature of progenitor cells in both embryonic and adult brains, along with their developmental dynamics and the factors influencing their proliferation and differentiation, there is potential to devise strategies for manipulating these cells to treat neurodegenerative diseases or repair the injured adult brain.