Principal Investigators


Prof. dr. E.M. Hol

Institution


Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

Contact information of lead PI


Country


Netherlands

Title of project or programme


Adult neural stem cells from post-mortem human brain: Towards an in vitro model for stimulating neurogenesis in neurodegenerative diseases.

Source of funding information


ZonMw

Total sum awarded (Euro)


€ 300,000

Start date of award


15/04/2014

Total duration of award in years


3

Keywords


Research Abstract


Our main aim is to find drugable targets in adult human NSCs, which can be stimulated to increase neurogenesis in the SVZ
and thereby facilitate repair of striatal dysfunction in Parkinson, and validate these targets in novel human cell models.
Our world-wide unique human adult NSC cultures will disclose novel molecular and cellular information, which is essential to
develop future therapies based on activating the brain’s own repair capacity. Adult human NCS-lines are currently not available,
but are required to search for compounds that can stimulate endogenous neurogenesis.
The proposed approach is not only relevant for Parkinson patients, but also for patients suffering from other neurological
diseases, such as Huntington disease, in which the medium spiny neurons in the striatum are affected, and for patients
suffering from stroke. Stimulating endogenous neurogenesis has so far mainly been studied in animals. The application of adult
human NSC-lines will lead to a replacement, reduction and refinement of animals used to study neurogenesis in several
neurological disorders. The immortalized human NSCs will be valuable tools for the world-wide research community to screen
for NSC activating compounds.

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