Chapters authored
Advances in Cellular and Cell-Free Therapy Medicinal Products for Huntington Disease Treatment
Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of CAG repeats in the huntingtin gene. The disease causes the progressive degeneration of neurons affecting particularly the medium spiny neurons (MSNs) within the striatum. The mHtt inclusions promote neurodegeneration. However, the mHtt can spread to different brain areas through exosomes. For this reason, it is not surprising that HD causes motor, cognitive and neuropsychiatric dysfunctions. To date there is no treatment able to modify the natural history of the disease. In this sense, the advanced cellular therapy, based on the therapeutic use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) emerges as a potential candidate for HD treatment. This is because, the MSCs produce many critical therapeutic molecules which act in multiple cellular and molecular targets. Moreover, in addition, advanced cell therapy is a unique approach that could provides neuroprotection and neuroregeneration. However, the current discovery that the MSC mechanism of action is mediated by exosomes, have encouraged scientist to explore the therapeutic potential of the cell-free therapy. Based on this, we revisited the HD pathophysiology, areas. Providing evidence that MSC and MSC-derived exosomes can be used to change the natural history of HD.
Part of the book: From Pathophysiology to Treatment of Huntington's Disease