Jefferson scientists find new way to convert adult human stem cells to dopamine neurons
Researchers at Jefferson Medical College have found a new way to coax bone marrow stem cells into becoming dopamine-producing neurons. If the method proves reliable, the work may ultimately lead to new therapies for neurological diseases such as Parkinsons disease, which is marked by a loss of dopamine-making cells in the brain.
Developmental biologist Lorraine Iacovitti, Ph.D., associate director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and her co-workers had previously shown that by using a potion of growth factors and other nutrients in the laboratory, they were able to convert adult human bone marrow stem cells into adult brain cells. Human adult bone marrow stem cells – also known as pluripotent stem cells – normally give rise to human bone, muscle, cartilage and fat cells.
While nearly all cells looked like neurons with axonal processes, they invariably reverted back to their original undifferentiated state in two to three days. Dr. Iacovitti and her co-workers instead attempted to grow the cells in a different way. Rather than an attached monolayer of skin-like cells, they grew the bone marrow cells in suspension as neurospheres – groups of cells early in development – akin to the way neural stem cells are grown.
They found that the newly differentiated cells didnt merely look like dopamine neurons, but expressed traits of neurons and related cells called astrocytes and oligodendrocytes – cells derived from neural stem cells. Whats more, the neurons produced tyrosine hydroxylase, an enzyme needed to make dopamine. She reports her teams findings October 25, 2004 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego.
The Jefferson scientists also found a second enzyme involved in dopamine production, and an important molecule called the dopamine transporter. Interestingly, Dr. Iacovitti notes, some of the cellular markers that would be expected to be expressed by new bone marrow cells were present in bone marrow stem cells grown in the original monolayers, though they were fewer in number. “The markers dont disappear,” explains Dr. Iacovitti, who is also professor of neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. “The cells seem to have markers of both bone marrow cells and dopamine neurons all the time. They dont forsake what they normally would be.”
While she cant say for sure whether or not the stem cells grown with the new method have markers of both bone marrow stem cells and dopamine neurons, the new dopamine neurons did not revert back to stem cells. “There are limitations to differentiating adult stem cells the way we want them – to get them to permanently give up being what they were meant to be and become neurons,” she says. “Maybe this is a way to grow these stem cells to get them to truly become dopamine neurons instead of just looking like neurons. “If we can now appropriately direct the differentiation of bone marrow stem cells, these cells could provide an abundant source of adult human neurons for use in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases,” she says.
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.jefferson.eduAll latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry
Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.
Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.
Newest articles
Sea slugs inspire highly stretchable biomedical sensor
USC Viterbi School of Engineering researcher Hangbo Zhao presents findings on highly stretchable and customizable microneedles for application in fields including neuroscience, tissue engineering, and wearable bioelectronics. The revolution in…
Twisting and binding matter waves with photons in a cavity
Precisely measuring the energy states of individual atoms has been a historical challenge for physicists due to atomic recoil. When an atom interacts with a photon, the atom “recoils” in…
Nanotubes, nanoparticles, and antibodies detect tiny amounts of fentanyl
New sensor is six orders of magnitude more sensitive than the next best thing. A research team at Pitt led by Alexander Star, a chemistry professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich…