Human Brain Transplantation Protocol Approved To Reverse Nerve And Brain
Damage
HIGHLIGHTS:
Scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are ready to start a
human treatment protocol that can reverse nerve and brain damage caused
by stroke, PARKINSON'S disease, epilepsy and spinal cord injuries. The
treatment involves removal and regeneration of carefully targeted brain
cells, which are then re-introduced into the patient, where growth
continues and the brain is repaired.
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS
Michel Levesque, M.D., Director, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's
Neurofunctional Surgery Center, Toomas Neuman, Ph.D., Director,
Neurobiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
LOS ANGELES (October 30, 1998) -- While growing cells in petri
dishes has been done for more than a century, this old technique is
being applied in ground-breaking new ways, and with space-age equipment,
at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Neurofunctional Surgery Center. The
goal is to produce cures for such previously incurable conditions as
spinal cord injuries, stroke, epilepsy, and Parkinson's disease.
The project was sparked by the recent discovery of human brain
cells' potential for regeneration, contradicting previous scientific
assumptions. "While it is true that brain cells don't regenerate in
situ, we have found that a very small number of brain cells, harvested
and placed into a special environment, can be stimulated to regenerate,
and that regeneration continues when the cells are re-introduced into
the brain," says Michel Levesque, M.D., Director of the Neurofunctional
Surgery Center and an internationally known neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center.
Toomas Neuman, Ph.D., Director of Neurobiology at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center, and Dr. Levesque are working together to culture a
number of carefully targeted brain cells from a patient, stimulating
growth and regeneration in a carefully regulated environment, and then
re-introducing them into the patient, where the growth continues, and
effects healing and repair to previously irreparably damaged brain
tissue.
"The implications of this are enormous. Right now we will use cell
harvesting and implantation to treat PARKINSON'S disease," says Dr.
Levesque. "Treating neurodegenerative diseases involving one type of
neurotransmitter cells is
comparatively straightforward - introducing excitatory neurons or
inhibitory neurons, into a particular part of the brain. In other words,
one type of cell to one location.
"Treating stroke and spinal cord injuries with regenerated cells is
infinitely more complex," says Dr. Levesque. We have to identify, grow,
and re-introduce a complex mixture of cells to restore a damaged
circuitry. We're working on a human protocol for spinal cord injury now,
and hope to start treating patients with regenerated cells within the
next six months."
The process literally starts with brain surgery, says Dr. Levesque.
"For epilepsy patients who require surgery, we take a small piece of the
cortex, where some of the few brain cells capable of regeneration are
located. We remove a few of those cells, store them in our cell bank of
neurons, and freeze them until we're ready to grow them in petri dishes.
Dr. Neuman oversees the growth stimulation part of the project.
"Right now we have to remove the cells and put them into a special
environment to stimulate them to begin growing and dividing. Our goal is
to eventually be able to stimulate the cells without removing them
first," says Dr. Neuman. "The cells don't spontaneously regenerate in
the body -- that's why certain types of brain injuries and illnesses are
currently incurable or irreparable.
"A variety of molecular biology tools are used to identify and
stimulate the cells," says Dr. Neuman. "We have to keep the growing
cells in sterile, biologically stable incubators -- like baby incubators
-- to maintain a constant
environment. When we're ready to grow them, we put them into a special
bath that includes different growth factors. Without either one, the
cells don't regenerate. If you have all the necessary things they divide
and grow. If you don't have them, these little guys die," he adds.
"The work we're doing is based on solid scientific foundations. It
began years ago, with studies indicating that certain types of birds
could produce brain cells that would regenerate in the right
circumstances. The studies moved from birds to animals. The progression
from animal brain cell regeneration to human brain cell regeneration is
the next logical step. When I began working with Dr. Levesque we
discovered we had a common interest -- our working together actually
stimulated the project," says Dr. Neuman.
"When we finish developing our protocol, we'll be the first to
offer this treatment for stroke and spinal cord injuries," says Dr.
Levesque. "We have a lot of spinal cord injury patients who are
interested in this type of treatment." The human protocol is scheduled
to be completed in six months, at which time cell regeneration and
re-introduction treatments can begin on humans.
Contact: Sandra Van
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1-800-396-1002
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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