Adult stem cells shown to develop into all brain cell types
April 30, 2003
Researchers at the University of Minnesota provide evidence for the
first time that stem cells derived from adult bone marrow and injected into
the blastocyst of a mouse can differentiate into all major types of cells
found in the brain. The results of the research are published as the lead
article in the April 25, 2003 issue of Cell Transplantation. The potential
of these adult stem cells, termed multipotent adult progenitor cells
(MAPCs), were the subject of research reported in Nature in June 2002. The
research reported this week in Cell Transplantation takes a specific look at
the ability of MAPCs to develop into cells typically found in the brain.
Adult stem cells were injected into a mouse blastocyst, an early
embryonic stage of a mouse. The result is the birth of a chimerical animal
an animal that shows the presence of both the cells from the host mouse as
well as cells that have developed from the transplanted stem cells. Within
the brain, the transplanted stem cells developed into nerve cells that
typically conduct electrical impulses, glial cells that provide support to
the nerve cells, and myelin-forming cells that enhance the conduction of
electrical impulses by nerve cells.
"This research takes our findings a step further,' said principal
investigator Walter C. Low, Ph.D., department of Neurosurgery, University of
Minnesota Medical School.
Researchers looked at the specific phenotypes of the cells in the brain
and found stem cell produced nerve cells in regions of the brain that
undergo degeneration with Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis,
Huntington's disease, ataxia, and Alzheimer's disease.
"This tells us that these adult stem cells are capable of becoming nerve
cells that communicate with other nerve cells within the brain and form
proper neural circuits that permit the chimerical mice to function
normally,' said co-investigator Catherine Verfaillie, M.D., director of the
Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota.
"The next step is to test what happens when the adult stem cells are used
to treat mice and rats with neurological disorders,' said lead author Dirk
Keene, an M.D./Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
Researchers expect answers to that question within the year. Xilma
Ortiz-Gonzalez, Yuehua Jiang, and David Largeaspada were co-authors on this
study.
University of Minnesota
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