(Press-News.org) The field of cell therapy, which aims to form new cells in the body in order to cure disease, has taken another important step in the development towards new treatments. A new report from researchers at Lund University in Sweden shows that it is possible to re-programme other cells to become nerve cells, directly in the brain.
Two years ago, researchers in Lund were the first in the world to re-programme human skin cells, known as fibroblasts, to dopamine-producing nerve cells – without taking a detour via the stem cell stage. The research group has now gone a step further and shown that it is possible to re-programme both skin cells and support cells directly to nerve cells, in place in the brain.
"The findings are the first important evidence that it is possible to re-programme other cells to become nerve cells inside the brain", said Malin Parmar, research group leader and Reader in Neurobiology.
The researchers used genes designed to be activated or de-activated using a drug. The genes were inserted into two types of human cells: fibroblasts and glia cells – support cells that are naturally present in the brain. Once the researchers had transplanted the cells into the brains of rats, the genes were activated using a drug in the animals' drinking water. The cells then began their transformation into nerve cells.
In a separate experiment on mice, where similar genes were injected into the mice's brains, the research group also succeeded in re-programming the mice's own glia cells to become nerve cells.
"The research findings have the potential to open the way for alternatives to cell transplants in the future, which would remove previous obstacles to research, such as the difficulty of getting the brain to accept foreign cells, and the risk of tumour development", said Malin Parmar.
All in all, the new technique of direct re-programming in the brain could open up new possibilities to more effectively replace dying brain cells in conditions such as Parkinson's disease.
"We are now developing the technique so that it can be used to create new nerve cells that replace the function of damaged cells. Being able to carry out the re-programming in vivo makes it possible to imagine a future in which we form new cells directly in the human brain, without taking a detour via cell cultures and transplants", concluded Malin Parmar.
### The research article is entitled 'Generation of induced neurons via direct conversion in vivo' and has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS): http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/03/21/1303829110.abstract?sid=b67d9da2-c4c2-44be-8b4e-feabdcd5b43d
For further information, please contact:
Malin Parmar, research group leader and Reader in Neurobiology, Lund University
Tel: +46 46 222 06 20
Email: Malin.Parmar@med.lu.se
Olof Torper, doctoral student in neurobiology, Karolinska Institutet and Lund University
Tel: +46 46 222 05 49
Email: Olof.Torper@med.lu.se
Anders Björklund, Professor of Neurobiology, Lund University
Tel: +46 46 222 05 40
Email: Anders.Bjorklund@med.lu.se
Researchers form new nerve cells – directly in the brain
2013-03-26
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Scientists and public school teachers team up to transform science education
2013-03-26
BOSTON (March 26, 2013) —A research paper published online this month in Academic Medicine highlights the successful development, implementation, and effects of an infectious disease curriculum that has now been piloted in five Boston Public Schools. Student engagement and interest in the infectious disease material increased after the curriculum was implemented. Based on pre-and post-tests, student understanding of the course content more than doubled regardless of gender or ethnicity, also attitudes and self-efficacy toward the material improved compared to other students.
The ...
Pig wasting syndrome costing farmers millions
2013-03-26
First economic models showing impact of post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) on British Pig Industry published
Between £8 to £84 per pig lost, depending on severity of PMWS
Farm-level intervention could save farmers up to £11,500 per year
Stark new figures show that a common pig virus, present on 99 per cent of pig farms has major economic implications for individual farmers and the pig industry as a whole, costing British farmers as much as £84 per pig (if the pig dies from the syndrome), and during epidemic periods, such as 2008, costing the pig ...
Geostatistical method predicts urban pollution
2013-03-26
Researchers from the University of Castilla-La Mancha have developed a measurement system which permits the prediction of atmospheric pollution due to nitrogen oxides in a specific location and at a particular time. The study is supported by a massive database from urban areas in the Community of Madrid.
The World Health Organisation has stated that almost 2.5 million people die every year from causes directly attributable to air pollution. In spite of efforts in recent years, toxic nitrogen oxides are one of the main problems of pollution in large cities, where more than ...
UGA discovery may allow scientists to make fuel from CO2 in the atmosphere
2013-03-26
Athens, Ga. – Excess carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere created by the widespread burning of fossil fuels is the major driving force of global climate change, and researchers the world over are looking for new ways to generate power that leaves a smaller carbon footprint.
Now, researchers at the University of Georgia have found a way to transform the carbon dioxide trapped in the atmosphere into useful industrial products. Their discovery may soon lead to the creation of biofuels made directly from the carbon dioxide in the air that is responsible for trapping ...
Wake Forest Baptist research provides clues to alcohol addiction vulnerability
2013-03-26
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – March 26, 2013 – A Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center team studying alcohol addiction has new research that might shed light on why some drinkers are more susceptible to addiction than others.
Jeff Weiner, Ph.D., professor of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest Baptist, and colleagues used an animal model to look at the early stages of the addiction process and focused on how individual animals responded to alcohol. Their findings may lead not only to a better understanding of addiction, but to the development of better drugs to treat the ...
Study: Hospital infections in cancer patients climbed, deaths declined
2013-03-26
DETROIT – In a nationwide study of patients undergoing surgery for cancer, Henry Ford Hospital researchers have found that while infections during hospital stays increased during a 10-year period, the death rate from those infections dropped.
The findings suggest that diagnosis and management of healthcare-associated infection, or HAI, have improved over time.
The study appears in the current issue of the journal Cancer.
"Cancer patients often have surgery as part of their treatment and are at increased risk for developing healthcare-associated infection," says study ...
Trees used to create recyclable, efficient solar cell
2013-03-26
Solar cells are just like leaves, capturing the sunlight and turning it into energy. It's fitting that they can now be made partially from trees.
Georgia Institute of Technology and Purdue University researchers have developed efficient solar cells using natural substrates derived from plants such as trees. Just as importantly, by fabricating them on cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) substrates, the solar cells can be quickly recycled in water at the end of their lifecycle.
The technology is published in the journal Scientific Reports, the latest open-access journal from ...
Men benefit more than women from having authority on the job
2013-03-26
Having more authority in the workplace comes with many rewards – including greater forms of job control and higher earnings. However, according to new research out of the University of Toronto, the benefits are not evenly distributed for women and men.
Sociologist Scott Schieman, lead author of the study, found key differences between men and women in both the levels and implications of greater job authority. First, roughly 24 per cent of men report managerial authority compared to only 16 per cent of women. Moreover, the association between managerial authority and ...
New study identifies unique mechanisms of antibiotic resistance
2013-03-26
BOSTON (March 26, 2013) — As public health authorities across the globe grapple with the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, Tufts University School of Medicine microbiologists and colleagues have identified the unique resistance mechanisms of a clinical isolate of E. coli resistant to carbapenems. Carbapenems are a class of antibiotics used as a last resort for the treatment of disease-causing bacteria, including E. coli and Klebsiella pneumonia, which can cause serious illness and even death. Infections involving resistant strains fail to respond to antibiotic ...
Researchers find novel way plants pass traits to next generation
2013-03-26
COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research explains how certain traits can pass down from one generation to the next – at least in plants – without following the accepted rules of genetics.
Scientists have shown that an enzyme in corn responsible for reading information from DNA can prompt unexpected changes in gene activity – an example of epigenetics.
Epigenetics refers to modifications in the genome that don't directly affect DNA sequences. Though some evidence has suggested that epigenetic changes can bypass DNA's influence to carry on from one generation to the next, this ...