Scientists convert skin cells into nerve cells
January 28th, 2010 - 12:55 pm ICT by ANILondon, Jan 28 (ANI): In a novel study, scientists from Stanford University have successfully transformed skin cells into nerve cells - an advancement that could pave way for new treatments for dementia.
They said that the breakthrough could “revolutionise the future of human stem cell therapy” for the regeneration of brains.
Previously, normal cells have been coaxed into changing function by first turning them into “induced” stem cells.
These have similar properties to stem cells taken from embryos, giving them the potential to become any kind of tissue in the body.
Dr Marius Wernig and his team from Stanford University School of Medicine in California went in to convert mouse skin cells straight into functional neurons, while by-passing the stem cell process.
They used just three genes to trigger the transformation, which was achieved without an in-between stem cell stage.
“We actively and directly induced one cell type to become a completely different cell type,” the Telegraph quoted Wernig as saying.
“These are fully functional neurons. They can do all the principal things that neurons in the brain do,” Wernig added.
During the study, the cells were found to signal and make connections with other nerve cells, a finding which could be crucial to future treatments for Parkinson’s disease and other brain disorders.
The change happened within one week with an efficiency of almost 20 per cent.
“This study is a huge leap forward. The direct reprogramming of these adult skin cells into brain cells that can show complex, appropriate behaviours like generating electrical currents and forming synapses establishes a new method to study normal and disordered brain cell function,” said Dr Irving Weissman, director of Stanford’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
“Finally we may be able to capture and study conditions like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s or heritable mental diseases in the laboratory dish for the first time,” Weissman added.
Scientists now hope to duplicate the feat with human cells.
The findings appear in journal Nature. (ANI)
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