Immature Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons Derived from Floor‐Plate Method Improve Cell Transplantation Therapy Efficacy for Parkinson's Disease

Recent reports have indicated human embryonic stem cells‐derived midbrain dopamine (mDA) neurons as proper cell resources for use in Parkinson's disease (PD) therapy. Nevertheless, no detailed and systematic study has been conducted to identify which differentiation stages of mDA cells are most suitable for transplantation in PD therapy. Here, we transplanted three types of mDA cells, DA progenitors (differentiated in vitro for 16 days [D16]), immature DA neurons (D25), and DA neurons (D35), into PD mice and found that all three types of cells showed high viability and strong neuronal differentiation in vivo. Both D25 and D35 cells showed neuronal maturation and differentiation toward TH(+) cells and, accordingly, satisfactory behavioral functional recovery. However, transplanted D16 cells were less capable of producing functional recovery. These findings provide a valuable guideline for standardizing the differentiation stage of the transplantable cells used in clinical cell therapy for PD. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2017;6:1803–1814