Jefferson scientists show neural stem cells can become dopamine-making brain cells in ...( Biologists at Jefferson Medical College...)

Biologists at Jefferson Medical College have shown for the first time in the laboratory that they can convert some human neural stem cells to brain cells that can produce dopamine, the brain chemical missing in Parkinson's disease. If the researchers can better understand the process and harness this ability, the work may someday lead to new strategies in treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.

Developmental biologist Lorraine Iacovitti, Ph.D., professor of neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, is searching for ways to convert stem cells into dopamine-making neurons to replace those lost in Parkinson's. In previous work, she and her co-workers showed that mouse neural stem cells placed in rats with Parkinson's disease could develop into brain cells that produced tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the enzyme needed to make dopamine.

Dr. Iacovitti, who also is associate director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Jefferson, wanted to see if human neural stem cells could become dopamine-producing brain cells as well. She and her colleagues grew neural stem cells in a laboratory dish. Using a cocktail of protein growth factors and nutrients, the researchers found they could coax approximately 25 percent of the stem cells to make TH in the dish, proving the stem cells had the capacity to manufacture dopamine. What's more, when they removed the growth factor-cocktail, the cells continued to produce the enzyme. She reports her team's findings November 5 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Orlando.

"We have two examples of human stem cells that do this," she says. "The obvious extension [of these results] is to take those predifferentiated human dopamine neurons and transplant then into Parkinson's disease model systems."

But first, Dr. Iacovitti would like to purify these neurons. Her group has developed ways of tagging live dopamine neurons with a fluoresce
'"/>

Contact: Steve Benowitz
steven.benowitz@mail.tju.edu
215-955-5291
Thomas Jefferson University
5-Nov-2002

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Jefferson Lab detector technology aids development of cystic fibrosis therapy
2. Jefferson scientists find gene expression pattern may predict behavior of leukemia
3. Jefferson researchers develop microchip to track genetic signature of cancer and normal tissue
4. Jefferson scientists use gene therapy to restore function of damaged heart cells in lab
5. Jefferson researchers uncover biochemical clues to how cells migrate in embryos
6. Jefferson and Brigham and Womens researchers find blue light important for setting biological clock
7. Jefferson Lab experiment generates THz radiation 20,000 times brighter than anyone else
8. Jefferson scientists show how collagen gene mutation leads to osteoarthritis
9. Jefferson scientists use gene repair technique to change albino mice hairs to black
10. Jefferson scientists show drug is effective against a Hepatitis C Virus model in the laboratory
11. Jefferson scientists propose mechanism to control the bodys red blood cell and platelet production