Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Aug 26, 2020; 12(8): 787-802
Published online Aug 26, 2020. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v12.i8.787
Stem cell therapy for Alzheimer's disease
Xin-Yu Liu, Lin-Po Yang, Lan Zhao
Xin-Yu Liu, Lin-Po Yang, Lan Zhao, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300381, China
Lan Zhao, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin 300381, China
Lan Zhao, National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tianjin 300381, China
Author contributions: Liu XY wrote the paper; Yang LP was involved in the data collection; Zhao L was responsible for the review design, revision, and research funding. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81202740; and Tianjin Natural Science Fund, No. 17JCYBJC26200.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lan Zhao, PhD, Research Fellow, First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Moxibustion; National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, No. 88 Changling Road, Xiqing District, Tianjin 300381, China. lanzhao69@163.com
Received: February 28, 2020
Peer-review started: February 28, 2020
First decision: April 2, 2020
Revised: April 10, 2020
Accepted: July 26, 2020
Article in press: July 26, 2020
Published online: August 26, 2020
Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by memory loss and cognitive impairment. It is caused by synaptic failure and excessive accumulation of misfolded proteins. To date, almost all advanced clinical trials on specific AD-related pathways have failed mostly due to a large number of neurons lost in the brain of patients with AD. Also, currently available drug candidates intervene too late. Stem cells have improved characteristics of self-renewal, proliferation, differentiation, and recombination with the advent of stem cell technology and the transformation of these cells into different types of central nervous system neurons and glial cells. Stem cell treatment has been successful in AD animal models. Recent preclinical studies on stem cell therapy for AD have proved to be promising. Cell replacement therapies, such as human embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cell–derived neural cells, have the potential to treat patients with AD, and human clinical trials are ongoing in this regard. However, many steps still need to be taken before stem cell therapy becomes a clinically feasible treatment for human AD and related diseases. This paper reviews the pathophysiology of AD and the application prospects of related stem cells based on cell type.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Stem cell, Therapy, Pathogenesis, Animal experiment, Clinical trial

Core tip: Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder featuring memory loss and cognitive impairment, is caused by synaptic failure and the excessive accumulation of misfolded proteins. Stem cell-based therapies cast a new hope for AD treatment as a replacement or regeneration strategy. The results from recent preclinical studies regarding stem cell-based therapies are promising. Human clinical trials are now underway. However, a number of questions remain to be answered prior to safe and effective clinical translation. This review explores the pathophysiology of AD and summarizes the relevant stem cell research according to cell type. We also briefly summarize related clinical trials. Finally, future perspectives are discussed with regard to their clinical applications.