Neural Stem Cells Can Become Dopamine-Making Brain Cells In Laboratory

韩雪娜

日期: 2002-11-07 今日/总浏览: 1/791% \1 S# o( z+ E$ g

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2 P5 \+ [- I. M: E* P3 wBiologistsatJeffersonMedicalCollegehaveshownforthefirsttimeinthelaboratorythattheycanconvertsomehumanneuralstemcellstobraincellsthatcanproducedopamine,thebrainchemicalmissinginParkinson'sdisease.Iftheresearcherscanbetterunderstandtheprocessandharnessthisability,theworkmaysomedayleadtonewstrategiesintreatingneurodegenerativediseasessuchasParkinson's.* \+ I' @7 P7 y# P6 S
DevelopmentalbiologistLorraineIacovitti,Ph.D.,professorofneurologyatJeffersonMedicalCollegeofThomasJeffersonUniversityinPhiladelphia,issearchingforwaystoconvertstemcellsintodopamine-makingneuronstoreplacethoselostinParkinson's.Inpreviouswork,sheandherco-workersshowedthatmouseneuralstemcellsplacedinratswithParkinson'sdiseasecoulddevelopintobraincellsthatproducedtyrosinehydroxylase(TH),theenzymeneededtomakedopamine.0 J  U5 l- y! |1 x  P$ I% M
Dr.Iacovitti,whoalsoisassociatedirectoroftheFarberInstituteforNeurosciencesatJefferson,wantedtoseeifhumanneuralstemcellscouldbecomedopamine-producingbraincellsaswell.Sheandhercolleaguesgrewneuralstemcellsinalaboratorydish.Usingacocktailofproteingrowthfactorsandnutrients,theresearchersfoundtheycouldcoaxapproximately25percentofthestemcellstomakeTHinthedish,provingthestemcellshadthecapacitytomanufacturedopamine.What'smore,whentheyremovedthegrowthfactor-cocktail,thecellscontinuedtoproducetheenzyme.Shereportsherteam'sfindingsNovember5attheannualmeetingoftheSocietyforNeuroscienceinOrlando.
1 x* k" J- C! D) |2 ]1 h' @Wehavetwoexamplesofhumanstemcellsthatdothis,shesays.Theobviousextension[oftheseresults]istotakethosepredifferentiatedhumandopamineneuronsandtransplantthenintoParkinson'sdiseasemodelsystems.
* F. e! I/ R! L5 fButfirst,Dr.Iacovittiwouldliketopurifytheseneurons.Hergrouphasdevelopedwaysoftagginglivedopamineneuronswithafluorescentmarker,shesays,enablingusforthefirsttimetopurifyorenrichthenumberofdopaminergicneuronsandtransplantthemintoParkinsoniananimalmodels.
* S! o/ @6 |: c& zUltimately,shesays,theyhopetoonedaybeabletodevelopthisasatreatmentforParkinson'sdiseaseinpeople.
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来源: ScienceDaily Magazine3 X7 X# R3 n8 c3 ]' L: Y! w% y
发布者: 刘斌