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Adult stem cells activated in mammalian brain
Date:7/24/2008

the treatment.

But, working with a patient's own cells would eliminate the need for transplantation and immunosuppressant drugs and may be a better alternative, scientists say. Ependymal cells line the fluid-filled ventricles, so a drug to activate the cells could theoretically travel through this fluid directly to the stem cells.

"The cells already match your brain completely since they have the same genetic make-up. That is a huge advantage over any other approach that uses cells from a donor," Gleason said. "If they are your cells, then all we are doing is helping your body fix itself. We're not reinventing the repair process."

In this study, Gleason and Peter Bryant, developmental and cell biology professor, used rats treated to develop the animal equivalent of Parkinson's disease. They chose this type of rat because in a previous study by UCI collaborator James Fallon, a small protein given to the brain-damaged rats sparked a rapid and massive production and migration of new cells, and significantly improved motor behavior.

First, the UCI researchers sought to determine the true location of stem cells in the rats by looking for polarized cells, which have different sets of proteins on opposite sides so that when one divides it can produce two different products. Polarization gives rise to asymmetric cell division, which produces one copy of the parent and a second cell that is programmed to turn into another cell type. Asymmetric cell division is the defining characteristic of a stem cell.

On rat brain samples, the researchers applied antibodies to identify proteins that may be involved in asymmetric cell division, and they found that polarization exists on the ependymal cells. "It couldn't have been a stronger signal or clearer message. We could see that the only cells undergoing asymmetric cell division were the ependymal cells," Gleason said.

Next, they gave a drug to induce cell division in the rats and
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Contact: Jennifer Fitzenberger
jfitzen@uci.edu
949-824-3969
University of California - Irvine
Source:Eurekalert

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