 |
|
Adult human neural stem cell therapy successful in treating spinal cord injury
September 20, 2005UCI study shows impact of stem cells on tissue regeneration and points to potential for new treatments
Irvine, Calif. - Researchers at the UC Irvine Reeve-Irvine Research Center have used adult human neural stem cells to successfully regenerate damaged spinal cord tissue and improve mobility in mice.
The findings point to the promise of using this type of cells for possible therapies to help humans who have spinal cord injuries. Study results appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
In their study, Brian Cummings, Aileen Anderson and colleagues injected adult human neural stem cells into mice with limited mobility due to spinal cord injuries. These transplanted stem cells differentiated into new oligodendrocyte cells that restored myelin around damaged mouse axons. Additionally, transplanted cells differentiated into new neurons that formed synaptic connections with mouse neurons.
Myelin is the biological insulation for nerve fibers that is critical for maintenance of electrical conduction in the central nervous system. When myelin is stripped away through disease or injury, sensory and motor deficiencies result and, in some cases, paralysis can occur. Previous Reeve-Irvine research has shown that transplantation of oligodendrocyte precursors derived from human embryonic stem cells restores mobility in rats.
"We set out to find whether these cells would be able to respond to the injury in an appropriate and beneficial way on their own," Cummings said. "We were excited to find that the cells responded to the damage by making appropriate new cells that could assist in repair. This study supports the possibility that formation of new myelin and new neurons may contribute to recovery."
Mice that received human neural stem cells nine days after spinal cord injury showed improvements in walking ability compared to mice that received either no cells or a control transplant of human fibroblast cells (which cannot differentiate into nervous system cells). Further experiments showed behavioral improvements after either moderate or more severe injuries, with the treated mice being able to step using the hind paws and coordinate stepping between paws whereas control mice were uncoordinated.
The cells survived and improved walking ability for at least four months after transplantation. Sixteen weeks after transplantation, the engrafted human cells were killed using diphtheria toxin (which is only toxic to the human cells, not the mouse). This procedure abolished the improvements in walking, suggesting that the human neural stem cells were the vital catalysts for the maintained mobility.
This study differs from previous work using human embryonic stem cells in spinal cord injury because the human neural stem cells were not coaxed into becoming specific cell types before transplantation.
"This work is a promising first step, and supports the need to study multiple stem cell types for the possibility of treating of human neurological injury and disease," Anderson said.
Desiree L. Salazar and Mitra Hooshmand of UCI, Nobuko Uchida and Stan J. Tamaki of StemCells Inc., and Robert Summers and Fred H. Gage of the Salk Institute of Biological Studies participated in the study. Adult human neural stem cells were provided by StemCells Inc. in Palo Alto, Calif. The National Institutes of Health and the Christopher Reeve Foundation provided funding support.
University of California-Irvine
In their study, Brian Cummings, Aileen Anderson and colleagues injected adult human neural stem cells into mice with limited mobility due to spinal cord injuries. These transplanted stem cells differentiated into new oligodendrocyte cells that restored myelin around damaged mouse axons. Additionally, transplanted cells differentiated into new neurons that formed synaptic connections with mouse neurons.
Myelin is the biological insulation for nerve fibers that is critical for maintenance of electrical conduction in the central nervous system. When myelin is stripped away through disease or injury, sensory and motor deficiencies result and, in some cases, paralysis can occur. Previous Reeve-Irvine research has shown that transplantation of oligodendrocyte precursors derived from human embryonic stem cells restores mobility in rats.
"We set out to find whether these cells would be able to respond to the injury in an appropriate and beneficial way on their own," Cummings said. "We were excited to find that the cells responded to the damage by making appropriate new cells that could assist in repair. This study supports the possibility that formation of new myelin and new neurons may contribute to recovery."
Mice that received human neural stem cells nine days after spinal cord injury showed improvements in walking ability compared to mice that received either no cells or a control transplant of human fibroblast cells (which cannot differentiate into nervous system cells). Further experiments showed behavioral improvements after either moderate or more severe injuries, with the treated mice being able to step using the hind paws and coordinate stepping between paws whereas control mice were uncoordinated.
The cells survived and improved walking ability for at least four months after transplantation. Sixteen weeks after transplantation, the engrafted human cells were killed using diphtheria toxin (which is only toxic to the human cells, not the mouse). This procedure abolished the improvements in walking, suggesting that the human neural stem cells were the vital catalysts for the maintained mobility.
This study differs from previous work using human embryonic stem cells in spinal cord injury because the human neural stem cells were not coaxed into becoming specific cell types before transplantation.
"This work is a promising first step, and supports the need to study multiple stem cell types for the possibility of treating of human neurological injury and disease," Anderson said.
Desiree L. Salazar and Mitra Hooshmand of UCI, Nobuko Uchida and Stan J. Tamaki of StemCells Inc., and Robert Summers and Fred H. Gage of the Salk Institute of Biological Studies participated in the study. Adult human neural stem cells were provided by StemCells Inc. in Palo Alto, Calif. The National Institutes of Health and the Christopher Reeve Foundation provided funding support.
University of California-Irvine
Neural Stem Cell Current Events and Neural Stem Cell News RSSNeural stem cell differentiation factor discovered
Neural stem cells represent the cellular backup of our brain. These cells are capable of self-renewal to form new stem cells or differentiate into neurons, astrocytes or oligodendrocytes.
Tumor suppressor gene in flies may provide insights for human brain tumors
In the fruit fly's developing brain, stem cells called neuroblasts normally divide to create one self-renewing neuroblast and one cell that has a different fate. But neuroblast growth can sometimes spin out of control and become a brain tumor.
Hebrew University scientists succeed through stem cell therapy in reversing brain birth defects
Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have succeeded in reversing brain birth defects in animal models, using stem cells to replace defective brain cells.
MIT identifies cells for spinal-cord repair
A researcher at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory has pinpointed stem cells within the spinal cord that, if persuaded to differentiate into more healing cells and fewer scarring cells following an injury, may lead to a new, non-surgical treatment for debilitating spinal-cord injuries.
Researchers link early stem cell mutation to autism
In a breakthrough scientific study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have shown that neural stem cell development may be linked to Autism.
MIT: Stem-cell therapies for brain more complicated than thought
An MIT research team's latest finding suggests that stem cell therapies for the brain could be much more complicated than previously thought.
Putting stem cell research on the fast track
Engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed tools to help solve two of the main problems slowing the progress of stem cell research - how to quickly test stem cell response to different drugs or genes, and how to create a large supply of healthy, viable stem cells to study from only a few available cells.
Insight into neural stem cells has implications for designing therapies
Scientists have discovered that adult neural stem cells, which exist in the brain throughout life, are not a single, homogeneous group.
Neural stem cells reduce Parkinson's symptoms in monkeys
Primates with severe Parkinson's disease were able to walk, move, and eat better, and had diminished tremors after being injected with human neural stem cells.
Harnessing the brain's plasticity key to treating neurological damage
With an aging population susceptible to stroke, Parkinson's disease and other neurological conditions, and military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with serious limb injuries, the need for strategies that treat complex neurological impairments has never been greater.
More Neural Stem Cell Current Events and Neural Stem Cell News Articles
 |
Neural Stem Cells: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology) by Leslie P. Weiner (Editor) Although there has been an explosion of interest and technology in the study of neural stem cells, many questions related to stem cell properties and neural stem cell lineage and differentiation still linger. Neural Stem Cells, 2nd Edition revises and expands upon the successful first edition in order to provide the most current, cutting-edge methods of today for the scientists working to answer these questions. The use of these step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols will allow investigators to produce pure populations that can serve as a means of understanding the biology of neural stem cells and adapting them for transplantation into disease models. In addition to the topics covered in the first edition, this new volume provides recently developed... |
 |
Neural Stem Cells: Development and Transplantation by Jane E. Bottenstein (Editor) Neural Stem Cells: Development and Transplantation provides comprehensive, critical and insightful reviews by leading experts in this exciting field of research. This volume will provide the latest data on neural stem cell properties and their therapeutic applications. This volume will be particularly useful for students, basic scientists, and clinicians in the academic or industrial sectors who have an interest in understanding neural development and its application to repairing the nervous system. |
 |
Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine: Adult Neurogenesis and Neural Stem Cells Volume 1 (v. I) by Philippe Taupin (Author) The subject of this book is stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the ability to differentiate into different lineages of the body. Stem cells carry tremendous potential for the treatment of a broad range of disease and injuries. Stem cells exist in embryonic, fetal, and adult tissues, including the adult central nervous system. This book aims at, in depth, the recent developments in stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Though this book encompasses all the fields of stem cell research and regenerative medicine, it emphasizes adult neurogenesis and neural stem cell research and therapy. |
 |
Science & Medicine Magazine Sept/Oct 1999 (Vol. 6 No. 5, Telomeres, Neural Stem Cells, Myocardial Preconditioning, Massage) by various (Author) Great informational magazine! Full color as well as b/w illustrations, diagrams and photos. |
 |
Neural Stem Cells, An Issue of Neurosurgery Clinics (The Clinics: Surgery) by A. Quinones-Hinojosa (Author), N. Sanai (Author) "Neural stem cells have the capacity to generate all of the multiple cell types found in the brain and spinal cord, thus, they have the potential to repair tissue injured by trauma or disease. The Guest Editors are researchers and clinicians who have done extensive work on human neural stem cells and the regeneration of neural cells in the brain. This issue of the Neurosurgery Clinics discusses embryonic and adult neural stem cells and their role in brain tumors, neurorestoration, trauma, and stroke. Contents: 1. Embryonic human stem cells: Present and Future; Germinal Regions in the Adult Human Brain; Astrocytes as Adult Neural Stem Cells; Identification of Human Brain Tumor Initiating Cells; BMP-Mediated Therapeutic Targeting of Brain Tumor Stem Cells; Neural Precursors and Their... |
|
StemCells obtains neural stem cell patent.(StemCells Inc.): An article from: BIOTECH Patent News by Biotech Patent News (Publisher) This digital document is an article from BIOTECH Patent News, published by Biotech Patent News on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 430 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Citation Details Title: StemCells obtains neural stem cell patent.(StemCells Inc.) Publication: BIOTECH Patent News (Newsletter) Date: January 1, 2003 Publisher: Biotech Patent News Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Distributed by Thomson Gale | |
|
Alcohol, neural stem cells, and adult neurogenesis.(Research Update): An article from: Alcohol Research & Health by Fulton T. Crews (Author), Kim Nixon (Author) This digital document is an article from Alcohol Research & Health, published by U.S. Government Printing Office on March 22, 2003. The length of the article is 5189 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Citation Details Title: Alcohol, neural stem cells, and adult neurogenesis.(Research Update) Author: Fulton T. Crews Publication: Alcohol Research & Health (Refereed) Date: March 22, 2003 Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Page: 197(8) Distributed by Thomson... | |
 |
Neural Stem Cells (Methods in Molecular Biology) by Tanja Zigova (Editor), Paul R. Sanberg (Editor), Juan R. Sanchez-Ramos (Editor) Univ. of South Florida, Tampa. Features a synthesis of latest techniques for isolation, identification, and characterization of neural stem cells. Includes cellular techniques, including cell cycle kinetics, telomerase assays, and electrophysiology. For basic and clinical researchers. |
|
Adult, embryonic murine neural stem cells could have broad implications for humans, scientists say.: An article from: Transplant News by Transplant Communications, Inc. (Publisher) This digital document is an article from Transplant News, published by Transplant Communications, Inc. on February 14, 1999. The length of the article is 423 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Citation Details Title: Adult, embryonic murine neural stem cells could have broad implications for humans, scientists say. Publication: Transplant News (Newsletter) Date: February 14, 1999 Publisher: Transplant Communications, Inc. Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Page: NA Distributed by Thomson... | |
 |
Adult Neurogenesis And Neural Stem Cells in Mammals by Philippe Taupin (Author) This title contains a book and CD. The brain has a number of nerve cells estimated at a magnitude of 10 to 100 billion, and 1014 to 1015 synapses, and therefore is the most complex organ of the human body. During fetal development the foundations of the brain are laid as billions of neurons form appropriate connections and patterns. In the adult mammalian brain, most neurons are post-mitotic, and therefore at risk for irreversible damage. As we age, atrophy of the brain occurs. As brain weight declines the volume of the brain in the 8th decade is reduced by 6 per cent -10 per cent versus the third decade, and neuronal loss occurs, up to 10,000 to 100,000 neurons are lost per day, though this estimation is being revised downward with the advance of more sophisticated measurements. |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |