Dr. Kunal Joon
AUTHOR – KUNAL JOON University : ST .Thomas
Title: Progressive toward cell therapy for neurodegenerative diseases
Biography
Biography: Dr. Kunal Joon
Abstract
Several neurodegenerative diseases (NDD), such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis (MS), and vision loss, are caused by neural loss due to heredity, aging, and traumas. Millions of people worldwide are affected by these debilitating ailments, but no treatments are available. Advancements in stem cell and regenerative medicine provide promising ways to develop therapies to treat NDD. Our studies are focused on investigating the efficacy of perinatal mesenchymal stem cell (pMSC)-derived progenitors in animal models of NDD. pMSCs have advantages over adult MSCs in that they are highly proliferative, do not display HLA-DR markers, and thus are not immunogenic. Our studies showed that pMSC-derived neural progenitors (NPs) reversed disease symptoms, provided neuroprotection, improved myelination, and induced neuroregeneration in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model of MS. NP transplantation also modulated regulatory immune cells and modulated BDNF and FGF signaling pathways. Likewise, we found that pMSC-derived retinal progenitors (RPCs) improved retinal structure and functions in the rd12 model of retinitis pigmentosa. RPCs survived and integrated into the neural layer of the retina and stopped retinal degeneration. RPCs promoted neurogenesis and functional recovery of the retina through inhibition of BMP and activation of JAK/STAT and MAPK signaling pathway. The results of these studies will be presented at the conference.