Stem cells show promise for treating Huntington...(stem cell might become a dopamine-produc...),Health

To do this work, Goldmans team set up a one-two molecular punch as a recipe for generating new medium spiny neurons, to replace those that had become defective in mice with the disease. The team used a cold virus known as adenovirus to carry extra copies of two genes into a region of the mouse brain, called the ventricular wall, that is home to stem cells. This area happens to be very close to the area of the brain, known as the neostriatum, which is affected by Huntingtons disease.

The team put in extra copies of a gene called Noggin, which helps stop stem cells from becoming another type of cell in the brain, an astrocyte. They also put in extra copies of the gene for BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which helps stem cells become neurons. Basically, stem cells were bathed in a brew that had extra Noggin and BDNF to direct their development into medium spiny neurons.

The results in mice, which had a severe form of Huntingtons disease, were dramatic. The mice had several thousand newly formed medium spiny neurons in the neostriatum, compared to no new neurons in mice that werent treated, and the new neurons formed connections like medium spiny neurons normally do. The mice lived about 17 percent longer and were healthier, more active and more coordinated significantly longer than the untreated mice.

The experiment was designed to test the idea that scientists could generate new medium spiny neurons in an organism where those neurons had already become sick. Now that the capability has been demonstrated, Goldman is working on ways to extend the duration of the improvement. Ultimately he hopes to assess this potential approach to treatment in patients.

This offers a strategy to restore brain cells that have been lost due to disease. That could p
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