oa Editorial [Hot Topic: Adult Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering in Central Nervous System Regenerative Medicine (Guest Editor: Antonio J. Salgado)]

Neurological disorders and injuries are typically chronic and debilitating diseases that frequently lead to the premature death of afflicted individuals, thereby imposing a harsh emotional burden on their family members. These disorders/injuries, which include neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson and Huntington disease), epilepsy, neuromuscular disorders, spinal cord injury and stroke often pose unique challenges for treatment. Current therapies for CNS related disorders are based on the use of pharmacological agents, which often lead to serious side effects. Therefore there is a great interest in the possibility of repairing the nervous system by transplanting cells that can replace the lost cell populations or, in alternative, induce local neuronal proliferation, differentiation and consequent tissue regeneration. In the last years stem cells, and within them adult stem cells from different sources, have been in the forefront of a new wave of possible therapeutic strategies. In fact different routes have been followed so far. Some strategies are solely based on the transplantation and differentiation potential of different populations of stem cells, others rely on their trophic capability while some recent strategies are purely based on the sole administration of the secretome of stem cells. Other routes have also involved bioengineering approaches, where stem cells are combined with biomaterials, scaffolds and nanotechnology concepts, in order to develop therapies that target the above referred problems. This is in fact an exciting cutting edge field of science, where basic stem cells biology meets state of the art materials science with the common goal of improving the quality of life of afflicted patients. Therefore, I am glad and thankful that a panel of renowned scientists has joined this special issue on “Adult Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering in Central Nervous Regenerative Medicine” and reviewed the most recent data on different topics that may have a strong impact on the future of Central Nervous System Regeneration. I sincerely hope that this special issue contributes to future and important developments within this field. Finally, I would like to thank the editorial staff of Current Stem Cell Research & Therapy at Bentham Science Publishers for their help with the preparation of this special issue.