Primate adult brain cell autotransplantation, a new tool for brain repair?

If successful, autologous brain cell transplantation is an attractive approach to repair lesions and restore function of the central nervous 14 system. We demonstrate that monkey adult brain cells obtained from cortical biopsy and kept in culture for 4 weeks exhibit neural progenitor characteristics. After reimplantation into a lesion area of the donor cerebral cortex, these cells can successfully survive and acquire neuronal characteristics over time. These results open new perspectives in the field of brain repair and may lead to future clinical applications. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.