The central nervous system (CNS) is a collection of heterogeneous tissues surrounded by the bones of the skull and spine. Diseases and injuries of the CNS represent a significant burden for humanity and cell therapies offer one of the potential future treatment options. The damaged nervous system can be regenerated using cells of either neural or non-neural origin. By transplanting cells, we can replace CNS cells or activate endogenous stem cells, accelerate their proliferation, migration to the desired site and differentiation. Bioengineered models of the CNS facilitate CNS research, enable the development of new cell therapies and are useful for transplantation. These models mimic the structures and functions of the CNS using various cells, such as embryonic stem cells, iPSCs, neural stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells. The 3D cellular environment is formed with various materials that should closely resemble the in vivo cellular environment. Hydrogels and nanofiber scaffolds have proven to be the most suitable for CNS models. Although the use of cell therapy for the CNS is still a relatively new and unestablished treatment approach, some clinical trials have already been conducted, showing the most promise in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, stroke and brain injuries.
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