Currently, demyelinating diseases are permanent, and problems worsen as time goes on because there is no way to fix the underlying problem restoring the myelin around the axons of brain cells. Goldman is hopeful that infusion of cells like oligodendrocyte progenitors might be used to offer relief to patients.

"The implantation of oligodendrocyte progenitors could someday be a treatment strategy for these diseases," says Goldman, a neurologist whose research was supported by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. While the experiment provides hope for patients, Goldman says that further studies are necessary before considering a test in humans. Currently he's conducting experiments in an attempt to remyelinate not just the brains but the entire nervous system of mice.

In addition to MS, many diseases affecting tens of millions of people in the United States involve myelin problems, Goldman says. These include widespread diseases like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, where decreased blood flow can damage myelin and hurt brain cells, as well as strokes, which often destroy brain cells in part by knocking out the cells that pump out myelin. In addition, cerebral palsy is largely caused by a myelin problem in infants born prematurely.

The team found that adult human cells were much more adept at settling into the brain, becoming oligodendrocytes and producing myelin than the fetal cells. After just four weeks, adult cells but not fetal cells were producing myelin. After 12 weeks, four times as many oligodendrocytes derived from adult cells were producing myelin 40 percent, compared to 10 percent of the cells from fetal cells. In addition, adult cells were likely to take root and form oligodendrocytes, not other brain cells such as neurons or astrocytes, which are not
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Contact: Tom Rickey
trickey@admin.rochester.edu
585-275-7954
University of Rochester Medical Center
13-Jan-2004