Therapeutic potential of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor and cell reprogramming for hippocampal-related neurological disorders

Abstract

Hippocampus serves as a pivotal role in cognitive and emotional processes, as wellas in the regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary axis. It is known to undergo mildneurodegenerative changes during normal aging and severe atrophy in Alzheimer?sdisease. Furthermore, dysregulation in the hippocampal function leads to epilepsyand mood disorders. In the first section, we summarized the most salient knowledgeon the role of glial cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor and its receptors focused onaging, cognition and neurodegenerative and hippocampal-related neurological diseasesmentioned above. In the second section, we reviewed the therapeutic approaches,particularly gene therapy, using glial cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor or its gene, asa key molecule in the development of neurological disorders. In the third section, wepointed at the potential of regenerative medicine, as an emerging and less exploredstrategy for the treatment of hippocampal disorders. We briefly reviewed the use of partialreprogramming to restore brain functions, non-neuronal cell reprogramming to generateneural stem cells, and neural progenitor cells as source-specific neuronal types to beimplanted in animal models of specific neurodegenerative disorders.