Generating oligodendroglia from adult mesenchymal cells for transplantation:cell reprogramming or direct lineage conversion?

Cell replacement therapy has long been proposed as a treatment for the damaged nervous system.One of the most challenging aspects of such a strategy,however,is finding sources of donor cells for transplantation.Autologous neural cells are rarely an option as every cell in the nervous system has a defined function that would be lost if that cell was to be removed.One possibility would be sourcing precursor or differentiated cells from fetal tissues;however,aside from ethical issues,heterologous cells are at risk of immunological rejection in the long term.Methodological improvements over the past 15 years have led to the possibility that autologous non-neural cells could be used for cell transplantation through their conversion into neural derivatives.