After providing basic background on transplantation, brain structure, and development, the book discusses Parkinson's disease, the use of transplants to influence localized brain functions, circuit reconstruction, and genetic engineering and other future technologies.

Functional Neural Transplantation IV: Translation to Clinical Application, Volume 230 provides the current status of cell transplantation in the nervous system, with a focus on the conditions for achieving structural repair and functional recovery after brain damage or in neurodegenerative disease. New to this release are chapters that delve into the Mechanisms and Use of Neural Transplants for Brain Repair, Reprogramming of Somatic Cells: iPS and iN Cells, Brain Repair from Intrinsic Cell Sources: Turning Reactive Glia into Neurons, and Ex Vivo Gene Therapy for the Treatment of Neurological Disorders, Preparation, Characterization and Banking of Clinical-grade Cells for Neural Transplantation. As the fourth in a periodic series of updates at 5-7 year intervals, this volume highlights recent developments related to the application of advances in cellular and molecular science, providing an understanding of the fundamental principles of neuroplasticity and regeneration in the brain and spinal cord, and also addressing the topic of the power of pluripotent stem cells to generate new sources of precisely specified neurons for utilization in brain repair. Comprehensive set of critical reviews covering the field Presents state-of-the-art topics in science and translational medicine Written by international leaders in the field of neural transplantation

The story of mammalian neural transplantation really begins eighty-one years ago. In Chicago in December of 1903, a 34-year-old physician, Elizabeth Hopkins Dunn, working as a research assistant in neurology, initiated a series of experiments to examine the ability of neonatal rat cerebral tissue to survive transplantation into the brain of matched littermates. Out of 46 attempts, four clearly successful grafts were identified. The publication of Dunn's results in 1917, the first credible report to demonstrate the feasibility of mammalian CNS transplants, generated little interest. In fact, the next significant experiment in this field did not appear until 1930. The field continued to grow slowly and quietly as investigators gradually realized the value of neural trans plantation to study problems of development and plasticity in the mammalian nervous system. With the discovery in 1979 that grafted neurons were capable of appropriate and functional interactions with the host brain, interest in neural transplantation esca lated sharply. The extraordinary opportunities created by using functional neural trans plants in investigating basic issues in neurobiology, as well as the clinical implications, excited both scientists and the public. The popularity of neural transplantation has been growing rapidly in the past five years and shows no signs of abating. The present volume was designed to meet two needs created by the rapid growth of this subdiscipline of neurobiology. The first was to provide a thorough review of the experimental foundations of neural transplantation.

During the last decade research on neural transplantation in mammals has grown extensively, and has attracted the attention of many young inquisitive scientists. This growth, as the critics point out, has been somewhat random, and has resulted neither in the formulation of basic concepts nor in any other significant achievement. For instance, they question-how is it possible to jump into functional research with clinical bearing when the basic morphological work has not yet been conducted? The criticism, objectively speaking, is valid and is supported by the fact that every investigator who has stepped into this unex plored field of neurosciences has formulated questions in his own way, has followed his own "model" oftransplantation, and has arrived at his own unique conclusions. The potential danger, as the critics emphasize, in this type of approach lies in that instead of evolving into a scientifically solid and valuable field of research, it may end in a confusing and conflicting mass of questionable claims and subjective opinions. The present situation, very likely, is a reflection of unrestrained enthusiasm and imaginativeness of the investigators, and the demands of the times for the so-called "newsworthy" and "breakthrough" publications. Despite these limitations, two important facts have been estab lished in this field. First, as far as transplantation of neural tissues per se is concerned, what was considered impossible by some critics about 10-12 years ago has been shown to be possible.

The field of neural transplantation is at a crucial stage, with important clinical trials on transplantation in patients with Parkinson's disease nearing completion and novel, alternative approaches to fetal transplantation being developed. This timely book brings together leading neuroscientists, clinicians, and cell and developmental biologists to discuss the use of neural transplants in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's chorea, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury. There is also extensive coverage of the potential alternatives to freshly derived fetal tissue as the source of transplants, for example xenografts, encapsulated cells and immortalized stem cells. With authoritative contributions and lively discussion sections, this book presents much new and exciting work in this field and identifies promising new research directions.

This issue of Progress in Brain Research is split over 2 volumes, bringing together cutting-edge research on Functional Neural Transplantation. The 2 volumes review current knowledge and understanding, provide a starting point for researchers and practitioners entering the field, and build a platform for further research and discovery. Leading authors review the state-of-the-art in their field of investigation, and provide their views and perspectives for future research Chapters are extensively referenced to provide readers with a comprehensive list of resources on the topics covered All chapters include comprehensive background information and are written in a clear form that is also accessible to the non-specialist

Functional Neural Transplantation IV: Translation to Clinical Application, Part B, Volume 231 provides the current status of cell transplantation in the nervous system, focusing on the conditions for achieving structural repair and functional recovery. New to this edition are chapters on Plasticity and Regeneration in the Injured Spinal Cord After Cell Transplantation Therapy, Transplantation of GABAergic Interneurons for Cell-Based Therapy, Rebuilding CNS Inhibitory Circuits to Control Chronic Neuropathic Pain and Itch, From Transplanting Schwann Cells in Experimental Rat Spinal Cord Injury to their Transplantation into Human Injured Spinal Cord in Clinical Trials, and the Recruitment of Endogenous CNS Stem Cells for Regeneration in Demyelinating Disease. As the fourth in a periodic series of updates at 5-7 year intervals, this volume highlights recent developments in cellular and molecular science, providing the fundamental principles of neuroplasticity and regeneration in the brain and spinal cord, while also addressing the power of pluripotent stem cells to generate new sources of precisely specified neurons for utilization in brain repair. Provides a comprehensive set of critical reviews covering the field Presents state-of-the-art topics in science and translational medicine Written by international leaders in the field of neural transplantation