AST - OPC1,
an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell population derived from human embryonic stem cells, has been shown in preclinical testing in animals and in vitro to have three potentially reparative functions that address the complex pathologies observed in demyelination disorders, such as spinal cord injuries, and multiple neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis and white matter stroke.
Starting with transplants of human
oligodendrocytes in the late 1980s [40], and more recently with
populations of human
oligodendrocyte progenitor cells isolated from the developing or adult CNS, or from human embryonic stem
cells, it has been possible to generate extensive myelination upon transplantation into spinal cord injury or into congenital mouse models of hypomyelination [41]--[48].