Posted on 04/29/2003 7:14:26 PM PDT by Lessismore
A group of research institutions successfully produced peripheral nerves, including sensory and autonomic nerves, from a monkey's embryonic stem (ES) cells, which are able to change into cells of various tissues and organs.
The experiment, conducted by the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe and other institutions, was the first to create peripheral nerve cells, according to the researchers.
They said all types of peripheral nerves cells could be produced in a test tube.
As the ES cells of monkeys and humans are similar, the results of the experiment are expected to lead to advances in regenerative medicine.
The results of the study will be announced on the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Web site on Tuesday.
Yoshiki Sasai, a director of the institute studying organogenesis and neurogenesis, and other researchers added BMP4, a protein connected with the creation of nerves cells in the brains of fetuses, to the monkey ES cells.
They added a small amount of the protein to the cells seven days after they had been cultivated. Six days later, they discovered about 10 percent of the cells had turned into sensory nerve cells.
When they added doses of the protein that were five to 10 times larger, they found that some of the cells turned into automatic nerve cells.
Likewise, about 20 percent of ES cells turned into motor nerve cells when another protein, Shh, which is active when nerves are formed, was added instead of BMP4.
When researchers increased the level of Shh 10-fold, the ES cells secreted substances to stretch nerve fibers, and then turned into nerve circuit cells. Sasai confirmed the cells pulled nerve fibers from other cells.
The researchers have already developed a method to alter monkey and mouse ES cells so that they secret the neurotransmitter dopamine by cultivating the ES cells with bone marrow cells. They used this method in the latest experiment.
Many scientists expect that Parkinson's disease, which is caused by a lack of dopamine in the brain, will be the first illness to be cured with transplanted nerve cells.
The method of adding BMP4 or Shh to ES cells will be used to treat a number of diseases related to the central nervous system and peripheral nerves if it allows the researchers to create more nerve cells.
Sasai said he and other researchers could generate dozens of types of nerve cells from ES cells under different conditions.
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