Posted on 06/18/2006 11:06:33 AM PDT by annie laurie
GAINESVILLE, Fla., June 14 (SPX) -- Regenerative medicine scientists at the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute have created a system in rodent models that for the first time duplicates neurogenesis - the process of generating new brain cells - in a dish.
Writing in today's (June 13) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers describe a cell culture method that holds the promise of producing a limitless supply of a person's own brain cells to potentially heal disorders such as Parkinson's disease or epilepsy.
"It's like an assembly line to manufacture and increase the number of brain cells," said Bjorn Scheffler, M.D., a neuroscientist with UF's College of Medicine. "We can basically take these cells and freeze them until we need them. Then we thaw them, begin a cell-generating process, and produce a ton of new neurons."
If the discovery can translate to human applications, it will enhance efforts aimed at finding ways to use large numbers of a person's own cells to restore damaged brain function, partially because the technique produces cells in far greater amounts than the body can on its own.
In addition, the discovery pinpoints the cell that is truly what people refer to when they say "stem cell."
Although the term is used frequently to describe immature cells that are the building blocks of bones, skin, flesh and organs, the actual stem cell as it exists in the brain has been enigmatic, according to Dennis Steindler, Ph.D., executive director of the McKnight Brain Institute and senior author of the paper.
Its general location was known, but it was an obscure species in a sea of cell types.
"We've isolated for the first time what appears to be the true candidate stem cell," said Steindler, a neuroscientist and member of UF's Program of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
"There have been other candidates, but in this case we used a special microscope that allows us to watch living cells over long periods of time through a method called live-cell microscopy, so we've actually witnessed the stem cell give rise to new neurons. Possibly a different method may come up to identify the mother of all stem cells, but we're confident this is it."
During experiments, scientists collected cells from mice and used chemicals to induce them to differentiate.
During the process, they snapped images of the cells every five minutes for up to 30 hours and compiled the images into movies.
Traditional ways to attempt neurogenesis have been unable to so closely duplicate the natural process.
They also haven't allowed scientists to monitor the entire sequence of cell development from primitive states to functional neurons and expose the electrophysiological properties of the cells.
A little more than a decade ago, scientists came to realize that the brain continues to produce small amounts of new cells even in adulthood, overturning the belief that people are born with a fixed amount of brain cells that must last them throughout their lives.
In people, stem cells develop naturally into full-fledged brain cells as they travel through a neural pathway that begins deep within the brain in a region called the subventricular zone. The primitive cells mature along the way, finishing as neurons in a spot called the olfactory bulb.
In the laboratory cultures, the cells still move about, but the pathway is no longer important, showing that neurogenesis does not necessarily require the environmental cues of the host brain.
The natural development of stem cells in the brain is very similar to the lifelong production of blood cells in the human body called hematopoiesis, with "poiesis" derived from the Greek word meaning "to make."
Scientists in Steindler's lab noticed the similarities between primitive cell development in blood and in the brain in the late 1990s, calling the process "neuropoiesis."
"The exciting part is we are actually using methods that researchers involved with hematopoiesis used," Scheffler said. "Those researchers took primitive cells, put them in a dish and watched them perform. From that, they learned vital information for clinical applications such as bone marrow transplants. Now we have a tool to do exactly the same thing."
By watching the cells perform, scientists can make judgments and influence the capacity of the cells to generate specific neurons.
"As far as regenerating parts of the brain that have degenerated, such as in Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and others of that nature, the ability to regenerate the needed cell type and placing it in the correct spot would have major impact," said Dr. Eric Holland, a neurosurgeon at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York who specializes in the treatment of brain tumors, but who is not connected to the research.
"In terms of tumors, it's known that stem-like cells have characteristics much like cancer cells. Knowing what makes these cells tick may help by furthering our knowledge of the biology of the tumor."
Ping
It might even be a help to liberals too, but I doubt it.
Heh ;-)
LOL!
I have a math test tommorow. May I borrow a cup of brain please?
Correction; the first cells generated in a dish eventually devolved to become Teddy Kennedy, and they certainly were not brain cells.
The Kennedy's are pushing to get to the front of the line.
instead of brain cells killed by a bottle.. I like it..
Placemarker
Call me when they are produced in, or with the consumption of, 40 oz. malt liquor.
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Wow!... Let's make a brain ten feet across. Hook it up to the grid. See what happens.
Be great if it could cure Alzheimer's , which is IMO the most evil disease of them all (especially early-onset Alzheimers. Imagine becoming hopelessly senile before you're 50. That's what happened to an uncle of mine.)
The dish, however, was accidently emptied down the Lab sink by the cleaning staff that evening, so the dish is now free to vote Democrat.
Yes, and I wish they could be grown in a dish.
Okay, I now return you to more serious discussion.
I'm thinking it's probably leftist brain cells, much simpler, less complex and therefore easier to replicate.
All kidding aside, this seems like a good thing.
Huntington's is equally evil, unfortunately. It's a death sentence following years of suffering.
"Abby who?"
"Abby ... Normal"
"That's what happened to an uncle of mine."
Harry Reid, too.
Actually, the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute by creating a system in rodent models that for the first time duplicates neurogenesis - the process of generating new brain cells - in a dish -- created a liberal. Once a whole brain is formed it will become a conservative.
It just occured to me; now we know where that email came from. You know, the "Liberals ask Five questions that rock the conservative world" email they're talking about on another thread.
Fortunately, I keep my brain cells numbered, for just such occasions...
Could you imagine if we could regenerate spinal cord tissue? This is a huge advancement.
pregnant women can generate brain cells for themselves from the stem cells of their fetus. Women who have male children then can actually have xy chromosomes in their brains.
Now that is fascinating; I'd never heard of it until now.
I'll have to do some reading. Thanks! :)
Related article here:
Scientists infuse rat spinal cords with brain-derived human stem cells
I'm going to have nightmares tonight after seeing that ;-p
bump & a stem cell ping
I had some of them brain cells once
I'm going to print this out for my mother who has Parkinson's. She can barely walk anymore.
Yeah, but the first time it makes a prediction about interest rates, the stock market would tank.
I had a dish of brains once. It was in a Romanian restaurant. They were soft and you could smoosh them on the roof of your mouth with your tongue.
I forgot to put sour cream in that brain, and you forgot the beer!! Could have stuck a chili-pepper in there too.
Example!! You don't believe in scientific brain charts?
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