Adult stem cell findings offer new hope for Parkinson's cure
Research released today provides evidence that a cure for Parkinson's
disease could lie just inside the nose of patients themselves.
The Griffith University study published today (Thursday 9am US East
Coast) in the journal Stem Cells found that adult stem cells
harvested from the noses of Parkinson's patients gave rise to
dopamine-producing brain cells when transplanted into the brain of a
rat.
The debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's such as loss of muscle
control are caused by degeneration of cells that produce the
essential chemical dopamine in the brain.
Current drug therapies replace dopamine in the brain, but these often
become less effective after prolonged use.
The discovery is the work of the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell
Research, part of Griffith's Eskitis Institute for Cell and Molecular
Therapies.
Project leader Professor Alan Mackay-Sim said researchers simulated
Parkinson's symptoms in rats by creating lesions on one side of the
brain similar to the damage Parkinson's causes in the human brain.
"The lesions to one side of the brain made the rats run in circles,"
he said.
"When stem cells from the nose of Parkinson's patients were cultured
and injected into the damaged area the rats re-aquired the ability to
run in a straight line.
"All animals transplanted with the human cells had a dramatic
reduction in the rate of rotation within just 3 weeks," he said.
"This provided evidence the cells had differentiated to give rise to
dopamine-producing neurons influenced by being in the environment of
the brain. In-vitro tests also revealed the presence of dopamine."
"Significantly, none of the transplants led to formation of tumours
or teratomas in the host rats as has occurred after embryonic stem
cell transplantation in a similar model.
He said like all stem cells, stem cells from the olfactory nerve in
the nose are 'naïve' having not yet differentiated into which sort of
cells they will give rise to.
"They can still be influenced by the environment they are put into.
In this case we transplanted them into the brain, where they were
directed to give rise to dopamine producing brain cells."
The advantage of using a patient's own cells is that, unlike stem
cells from a foreign embryo, they are not rejected by the patient's
immune system, so patients are free from a lifetime of potentially
dangerous immuno-suppressant drug therapy.
This development follows Professor Mackay-Sim's 2006 development of a
world-first technique that demonstrated that olfactory adult stem
cells can give rise to heart, nerve, liver and brain cells.
###
Co-authors on the paper were Wayne Murrell, Andrew Wetzig, Michael
Donnellan, François Féron, Tom Burne, Adrian Meedeniya, James Kesby,
John Bianco, Chris Perry, Peter Silburn.
The study was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical
Research Council and the Australian Department of Health and Ageing.
Public release date: 6-Jun-2008
Contact: Jeannette Langan
j.langan@griffith.
61-755-528-654
Research Australia
Download the full article here at http://stemcells.
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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