Main description:

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.

Contents:

Preface
Stephen Dunnett and Anders Bjoerklund

Transplantation in the Future
Fred H. Gage

Ethical Challenges for Using Human Cells in Clinical Cell Therapy
Goeran Hermeren

Banking Stem Cells for Research and Clinical Applications
Glyn Stacey

Survival, Differentiation and Connectivity of Ventral Mesencephalic Dopamine Neurons following Transplantation
Lachlan Thompson and Anders Bjoerklund

Electrophysiological Investigations of Synaptic Connectivity between Host and Graft Neurons
Jan Tonnesen and Merab Kokaia

Nigral Grafts in Animal Models of Parkinson's Disease. Is Recovery beyond Motor Function Possible?
Mariah J. Lelos, Eilis Dowd and Stephen B. Dunnett

L-DOPA- and Graft-Induced Dyskinesia following Transplantation
Emma L. Lane and Christian Winkler

Current Status of Clinical Trials of Neural Transplantation in Parkinson's Disease
Jonathan R Evans, Sarah L Mason and Roger A Barker

In vivo Imaging of the Integration and Function of Nigral Grafts in Clinical Trials
Marios Politis and Paola Piccini

Neuropathology in Transplants in Parkinson's Disease: Implications for Disease Pathogenesis and the Future of Cell Therapy
Patrik Brundin and Jeffrey H. Kordower

Derivation of Dopaminergic Neurons from Pluripotent Stem Cells
Lorenz Studer

Characterization and Criteria of Embryonic Stem and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for a Dopamine Replacement Therapy
Oliver Cooper, Malin Parmar and Ole Isacson

Skilled Motor Control for the Preclinical Assessment of Functional Deficits and Recovery following Nigral and Striatal Cell Transplantation
Alexander Klein and Ian Q. Whishaw

Role of Experience, Training and Plasticity in the Functional Efficacy of Striatal Transplants
Mate D. Doebroessy and Guido Nikkhah

In vivo Imaging of Integration and Function of Striatal Grafts in Rodent and Non-Human Primate Animal Models
Philippe Hantraye and Romina Aron Badin

Clinical Trials of Neural Transplantation in Huntington's Disease
Anne E. Rosser and Anne-Catherine Bachoud-Levi

Derivation of Striatal Neurons from Human Stem Cells Pedro Viegas, Camille Nicoleau and Anselme L. Perrier