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The attached extract from a BBC Horizon progam broadcast on Thursday 19th
March contains news of the use of a family of chemicals nicknamed "hedgehog"
to control the convertion of new cells into cells of a particular type eg
dopamine producing cells. The complete script is available on the internet
via the BBC web page.
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NARRATOR Its activity in the embryonic central nervous
system has led Ontogeny to explore its effect in Parkinson's
disease. This sad degeneration of muscle control is due to
the death of brain cells producing a crucial chemical
messenger, Dopamine. So the question was, might Hedgehog
regenerate these brain cells?
NAGESH MAMANTHAPPA Now in Parkinson's disease the cells that
die off in the brain are cells that produce dopameine, and
what you've just seen is a piece of early embryonic brain
tissue that would never would normally every produce
dopameine, but what we have managed to do here is by
culturing that piece of tissue with beads soaked in sonic
Hedgehog, we programmed these cells so that they actually
become dopameine producing cells, so here's an example of
that kind of experiment, but 4 days after the piece of
tissue has been treated with the beads and in this picture
you basically just see the embryonic tissue and 4 distinct
beads, these are the beads coated with sonic Hedgehog. Now,
if we stain this piece of tissue in a way that allows us to
see the cells that are now becoming dopanamurgic neurones,
that is neurones that make dopameine, you can see very
intense staining in the vicinity of these beads. Now,
interestingly, you look in other parts of this piece of
tissue which aren't near the beads and you don't see the
dopameine staining, so we've taken this piece of tissue that
normally never becomes this type of cell, ah, and we can
induce these cells, the very cells that die off in
Parkinson's disease.
NARRATOR One biotech company amongst thousands working on
just one of the control gene's messengers, and the
possibilities are already impressive. Investors are
attracted by Hedgehog's activity in the genitals and skin,
and by the hope of treatment for infertility, baldness and
cancer. Already there is serious talk here of a simple,
Hedgehog based cream against skin cancer being in clinical
use within 5 years. What started as a scientific proof that
Ed Lewis's Hox genes existed is, according to Sean Carroll,
another pioneer in the field, creating a new approach to
medicine.
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Nigel Cockle
59 Norley Road, Cuddington, Northwich, Cheshire. CW8 2JY England
Tel +44 1606 882150
Email [log in to unmask]
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