Reminder: Stem cell research is also one of the subjects to be covered on
48 Hours next Thursday night on CBS.
-----Original Message-----
From: judith richards [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 1998 9:18 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN
Subject: News-Nature Biotechnology on stem cells
Stem cells expected to help neurological research
NEW YORK, Nov 03, 1998 (Reuters Health) -- Scientists have moved one
step closer to using neural stem cells (NSC) from
humans to combat neurodegenerative diseases, according to two studies in
the November issue of Nature Biotechnology.
In the studies, researchers isolated NSCs from human fetal tissue.
Previously, these types of cells had only been isolated from
rodents.
Neural stem cells give rise to more specialized cells of the central
nervous system. These cells, found in developing or
degenerating regions of the central nervous system, are able to
differentiate into a variety of cell types. The stem cells ''could
ultimately be used in cell replacement and gene therapies for patients
with neurodegenerative disease or paralysis,'' according to
a statement from the journal editors.
The first study, by Dr. Jonathan D. Flax of Harvard Medical School in
Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues, showed that
clones of NSCs from fetal brain tissue regenerate repeatedly in a Petri
dish and differentiate into all types of nerve cells when
treated with growth factors or manipulated genetically.
For example, the cells followed ``established migratory pathways to
disseminated central nervous system regions'' and
differentiated into appropriate cell types when transplanted into the
brains of newborn mice, report the study authors.
According to an accompanying editorial, this study ''provides strong
evidence that human NSCs are able to perform in vitro (in
lab testing) and in vivo (in studies of animals) all the critical
functions previously described for their rodent counterparts.''
Researchers in a second study also isolated NSCs from fetal tissue and
incorporated them into the brains of rats. Results
showed that the cells migrate to the major regions of the brain and
differentiate into three main nerve cell types.
According to Oliver Brustle and colleagues with the National Institutes
of Health, the University of Bonn Medical Center in
Germany and the Institute Pasteur in France, their research may be used
``as a prelude to the design of therapeutic strategies for
neurodegenerative diseases.''
SOURCE: Nature Biotechnology 1998;16:1033-1044.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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