Hope for brain disease patients

Stem cells central to research

Amy Fagan (Contact)
Saturday, June 7, 2008

Massachusetts researchers have discovered molecules in the brain that turn brain stem cells on and off, while Australian researchers used adult stem cells from the nose to create dopamine-producing brain cells in rats - two discoveries that could give hope to people with brain diseases like Parkinson's.

Scientists at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, found that in areas of the brain where stem cells were "sleeping" or not functioning, brain cells called astrocytes were producing high levels of two molecules: ephrin-A2 and ephrin-A3.

When the researchers removed the ephrin molecules, the sleeping stem cells were activated and turned into neurons and other types of brain cells. The study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), was conducted in healthy mice.

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Meanwhile, researchers at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, harvested adult stem cells from the noses of Parkinson's patients and injected them into the brains of rats that had symptoms similar to Parkinson's.

Researchers had induced the rats' symptoms by creating lesions on their brains, which made them run in circles. After nose stem cells were introduced, however, the rats eventually stopped running in circles and tests revealed the presence of dopamine in their brains, which researchers said was brought on by the stem cells.

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