N.B.   Ivan Suzman:

 This is basically what you  suggested at  the Maine Parkinson Symposium last
April, isnt It? That the Dopa producing cells dont die, they just stop
producing dopa?

Hilary



Joao Paulo Carvalho wrote:
>
> Good news from BBC to share with you :
> ---------------------------------
>              Genes help brain recapture  youth
>
>              As the brain ages, many cells shrink but few die
>              Withered brain cells could bloom again using gene therapy
>
>              techniques to restore them to their former glory,
> scientists
>              have said.
>
>              The finding could help doctors develop new therapies for
>              diseases such as Alzheimer's, which causes a breakdown in
>
>              brain function.
>
>              It also reinforces scientists understanding of how the
> brain
>              works and suggests that old brain cells do not die, they
>              simply shrivel.
>
>              The technique has been shown to restore the brain cells
> in
>              monkeys - although an ongoing study is examining whether
> it
>              reinvigorates memory and thinking - and the researchers
> are
>              seeking permission to test it on patients with
> Alzheimer's
>              disease.
>
>              Cells survive
>
>              Dr Mark Tuszynski, of the University of California, San
>              Diego, led the study and explained how his team sees the
>              ageing process of the brain.
>
>                                  "We've all heard the dogma
>                                  that we lose 10,000 neurones
>                                  (brain cells) a day after the age
>                                  of 20," he said. "Well, that is
>                                  false. That doesn't happen."
>
>                                  A count of cells in the cortex - a
>                                  key area in the brain involved in
>                                  thinking - showed that very few
>                                  were lost with age, he said.
>
>                                  However, cells in the part
>                                  known as the basal forebrain,
>                                  were dramatically affected by
>                                  age and had stopped producing
>              certain chemicals - a change that affects thinking
> ability in the cortex.
>
>              "These cells are like the air traffic controllers of the
> brain," Dr
>              Tuszynski said.
>
>              The cells were not dead, however, and when genes that
> make
>              nerve growth factor (NGF) - an essential chemical found
> in
>              the brain - were injected into the brain, they were
> revived.
>
>              Human tests next
>
>              The researchers used eight monkeys with an average age of
>
>              23 - the monkey equivalent of the late 60s to 70s in
> humans.
>
>              The researchers inserted the NGF gene into skin cells and
>
>              then injected the modified cells into the front of the
> monkeys'
>              brains. Four monkeys got injections of skin cells without
> the
>              gene.
>
>              "We restored the number of cells we could detect to about
>
>              92% of normal for a young monkey and size of the cells
> was
>              restored to within 3%," Dr Tuszynski said.
>
>              The application of this technique to Alzheimer's - which
>              destroys chemical messengers used by the cells of the
> brain
>              to communicate with each other - will need to be tested
> in
>              humans, as animals do not suffer the disease in the same
>              way.
>
>              The researchers have already applied to the US Food and
>              Drug Administration for permission to run human trials,
>              although it would be a number of years before they could
> tell
>              if the treatment was effective.
>
>              The study was published in the Proceedings of the
> National
>              Academy of Sciences journal.
> ----------------
>
> Cheers ,
>    +----| Joao Paulo de Carvalho   |------ +
>    |         [log in to unmask]     |
>    +--------| Salvador-Bahia-Brazil |------+