A Fountain of Youth for the Brain?
A Fountain of Youth for the Brain?
May 18, 2001 -- Most people are familiar by now with stem cells, the primitive "starter" cells found in bone marrow that serve in the continuous production of blood cells throughout life. Those cells have attracted the attention of researchers worldwide who are interested in using them to treat a host of disorders, including cancer and immune-related diseases.
Now, stunning new laboratory research suggests that some special cells found in bone marrow could also be used to repair and replenish the brain and central nervous system, offering potential therapies for stroke, brain injury, and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
In a visionary overview of the emerging science of brain regeneration, presented at the recent annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Darwin J. Prockop, MD, said the new revelations promise to catapult stem cell research into areas considered unimaginable just five or 10 years ago.
Ultimately, these remarkable bone marrow cells with regenerative capabilities may be used as a veritable "fountain of youth" for the brain, says Prockop, who is director of the Center for Gene Therapy at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans.
The wellspring of that fountain are special cells found in bone marrow known as marrow stromal cells, or MSCs, which appear to have the capacity to rejuvenate tissue in many parts of the body.
Exactly how the cells work remains to be clarified. Some scientists believe they provide growth factors that encourage pre-existing stem cells in various parts of the body, including the brain, to grow anew and form other cells. Others, like Prockop, believe they act like stem cells themselves, taking on the function of cells in whatever environment -- including the brain or nervous system -- to which they are introduced.
In any case, animal studies show that when MSCs are extracted from rats or mice, multiplied in the laboratory, then injected directly back into the animals' brains, remarkable things happen.
"Some of the cells injected into the central nervous system become new [nerve cells]," Prockop says. "The cells really take off and migrate throughout the brain. Amazingly, we get more cells back then we put in."
A Fountain of Youth for the Brain?
May 18, 2001 -- Most people are familiar by now with stem cells, the primitive "starter" cells found in bone marrow that serve in the continuous production of blood cells throughout life. Those cells have attracted the attention of researchers worldwide who are interested in using them to treat a host of disorders, including cancer and immune-related diseases.
Now, stunning new laboratory research suggests that some special cells found in bone marrow could also be used to repair and replenish the brain and central nervous system, offering potential therapies for stroke, brain injury, and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
In a visionary overview of the emerging science of brain regeneration, presented at the recent annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, Darwin J. Prockop, MD, said the new revelations promise to catapult stem cell research into areas considered unimaginable just five or 10 years ago.
Ultimately, these remarkable bone marrow cells with regenerative capabilities may be used as a veritable "fountain of youth" for the brain, says Prockop, who is director of the Center for Gene Therapy at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans.
The wellspring of that fountain are special cells found in bone marrow known as marrow stromal cells, or MSCs, which appear to have the capacity to rejuvenate tissue in many parts of the body.
Exactly how the cells work remains to be clarified. Some scientists believe they provide growth factors that encourage pre-existing stem cells in various parts of the body, including the brain, to grow anew and form other cells. Others, like Prockop, believe they act like stem cells themselves, taking on the function of cells in whatever environment -- including the brain or nervous system -- to which they are introduced.
In any case, animal studies show that when MSCs are extracted from rats or mice, multiplied in the laboratory, then injected directly back into the animals' brains, remarkable things happen.
"Some of the cells injected into the central nervous system become new [nerve cells]," Prockop says. "The cells really take off and migrate throughout the brain. Amazingly, we get more cells back then we put in."
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