Chapters authored
Trophic Factors in the Therapeutic Challenge Against ALS: Current Research Directions
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder, which up to date remains incurable. Multiple experimental approaches toward finding an effective way of reducing ALS progression and improving patients’ condition have been proposed but none of them brought significant desired effects. In recent years, studies focused on stem cells (SCs) have proven that not only cells themselves but also trophic factors, which they secrete, may cause positive effects on neural tissue environment. Crucial issues that have to be considered in any study implementing SC’s secreted trophic factors are administration route and type of administered cells. Furthermore, the understanding of trophic factor function, secretion manner, and their potential influence on damaged cells may be immensely beneficial. This chapter focuses on recent studies exploiting trophic factors to improve ALS patients and animal ALS models’ condition.
Part of the book: Update on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis