PET scans
comparing Alzheimer's sufferer's brain with
healthy brain. (Jonathan
Selig/Getty Images)
A team of
scientists has discovered what could be a novel source for researching and
potentially treating Alzheimer's disease and other conditions involving the
destruction of brain cells.
Researchers
at the University of California San Francisco-affiliated Gladstone Institutes
converted skin cells from mice and humans into brain stem cells with the use of
a protein called Sox2. Using only this protein to transform the skin cells into
neuron stem cells is unusual. Normally, the conversion process is much more
complex.
Neuron stem
cells are cells that can be changed into the nerve cells and the cells that
support them in the brain. The neuronal stem cells formed in this study are
unique because they were prepared in a way the prevented them from becoming
tumors, which is what often happens as stem cells differentiate, explained
David Teplow, professor of neurology and director of the Easton Center for
Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA. Teplow was not involved in the study, but
is familiar with this type of research.
These
immature brain stem cells then developed into different types of functional
brain cells, which were eventually able to be integrated into mouse brains.
The idea
that these cells can become fully functioning brain tissue is significant, the
authors explained, because by becoming part of the brain, the cells can replace
the cells killed off by the disease process.
These cells
also offer a potential way to learn about the mechanisms behind
neurodegenerative disorders as well as lead to research into new drugs,
explained Dr. Yadong Huang, a study co-author and associate investigator at the
Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease.
"The
next step is, we are trying to get these skin cells from patients with this
disease so we can reprogram and convert the diseased cells into these neuron
stem cells and develop those into neurons in culture," he said.
After that,
researchers can study how these diseases develop based on what's observed in
culture dishes.
"It's
really hard to get neurons from human brains for research, and now, we can
generate them," Huang said. "Secondly, we can do some drug screening.
If we have patient-specific neurons in culture, we can test some or develop
some drugs to see how they work on these neurons."
These
neuron stem cells, Huang explained, also don't develop into tumors as other
types of stem cells are prone to do.
"This
is a significant step forward," said Teplow. "Thus far, the
challenges with stem cells have been to make the right cells and also be able
to make a cell preparation where the risk of having cells that can form tumors
is low." Teplow was not involved in Huang's study.
There are
still a number of steps this area of research must undergo determining whether
these cells can really replace lost brain cells, but experts are encouraged.
"One
of the target areas of the brain in Alzheimer's disease is the hippocampus,
where there is tremendous loss of neurons, and there is also loss in the outer
part of the brain as it progresses," Teplow said. "If we can
introduce these cells into these two areas to replenish cells that are lost, we
can theoretically reverse the disease."
"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)
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