7th August 2014 Implanted neurons could lead to Parkinson's cure Scientists at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) have grafted neurons reprogrammed from skin cells into the brains of mice for the first time with long-term stability. Six months after implantation, the neurons had become fully functional and integrated into the brain. This successful demonstration of lastingly stable neuron implantation raises hope for future therapies in humans that could replace sick neurons with healthy ones in the brains of Parkinson’s disease patients, for example. The LCSB research group led by Prof. Jens Schwamborn and Kathrin Hemmer is working continuously to bring cell replacement therapy to maturity as a treatment for neurodegenerative diseases. The path towards successful therapy in humans, however, is long. “Successes in human therapy are still a long way off, but I am sure successful cell replacement therapies will exist in future. Our research results have taken us a step further in this direction,” claims Prof. Schwamborn.
In their latest tests, the research group succeeded in creating stable nerve tissue in the brain from neurons that had been reprogrammed from skin cells. The stem cell researchers’ technique of producing neurons – or more specifically, induced neuronal stem cells (iNSC) – in a petri dish from the host’s own skin cells greatly improves the compatibility of the implanted cells. The treated mice showed no adverse side effects, even six months after implantation into the hippocampus and cortex regions of the brain. In fact it was quite the opposite – the implanted neurons were fully integrated into the complex network of the brain. The neurons exhibited normal activity and were connected to the original brain cells via newly formed synapses, the contact points between nerve cells. These tests demonstrate that the scientists are continually gaining a better understanding of how to treat such cells in order to successfully replace damaged or dead tissue. “Building upon the current insights, we will now be looking specifically at the type of neurons that die off in the brain of Parkinson’s patients – namely the dopamine-producing neurons,” Schwamborn reports. In the future, implanted neurons could produce the lacking dopamine directly in the patient’s brain and transport it to the appropriate sites. This could result in an actual cure, as has so far been impossible. The researchers have published their results in the current issue of Stem Cell Reports.
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