Growing Nerve Cells

Science Central ^ | 03.16.06

[Coleus]

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Plan on wearing green this St. Patrick's Day? Bet you can't top a mouse with green skin. As this ScienCentral News video explains, this mouse is green for a very serious reason. It's invaluable to researchers learning how to grow nerve cells.

Knitting New Neurons

Even for scientists, it's not every day you see a hairless mouse glowing bright green under a fluorescent light. And for scientists searching for stem cells that could grow into nerve or brain cells, seeing such a mouse meant finding a possible whole new source of such cells.

The scientists had given the mouse a gene so that areas would glow green where such stem cells might be found. They expected part of the mouse around the head to glow green. Instead, the entire mouse was aglow. "I'll never forget the minute that we made that observation," says Robert Hoffman, president of AntiCancer, Inc., where the finding took place.

Because of that moment, which Hoffman says was, in fact, a "lucky discovery," company scientists have been working on what could be a new source of adult stem cells.

Their most recent research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), shows that they've been able to use stem cells taken from a mouse hair follicle to help regenerate damaged nerves in mice. In previous research, also published in PNAS, they showed the stem cells could become special brain cells called neurons.

 

Hoffman says this trail of discovery began when they were trying to locate the source of adult stem cells for the brain. They were using a genetic modification technique that makes only the specific cells they're looking for glow green under fluorescent light. They expected to find appropriate cells somewhere around the brain. But when the entire mouse glowed, they knew there might be a promising source of stem cells elsewhere.
"So, we took a look at the skin under the microscope" says Hoffman, "and we immediately guessed, and we guessed right that these hair follicle stem cells are very similar to the brain stem cells."

Researchers have been looking at stem cells as a way help the body repair itself, even with injuries that are now often considered permanent, such as brain, spinal cord or nerve injuries. Embryonic stem cells have been shown to be very useful, but many object to their use on ethical grounds.

Research such as that done by Hoffman and his team is looking into adult stem cells. Hoffman says, "Perhaps we don't have to worry about embryonic stem cells or invasive procedures to get stem cells." Adding that only the hairs and the follicle would have to be removed. "Dermatologists can do this in seconds," he explains.

In their first experiments, they tried to, according to Hoffman, "convert the hair follicle stem cells into brain cells in the laboratory." When that worked, he says, "Then we knew there was a real relationship between the hair follicle stem cells and the brain stem cells." They then put them in mice, and found they still formed neurons.

 

This material is made possible by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academies.

From there they worked with mice with injured nerves. "We injected these hair follicle stem cells into the area where the nerve or the spinal cord is severed… [and] found that the nerve or spinal cord could be regenerated because we injected these hair follicle stem cells," says Hoffman.

He says they must still do a lot of testing, over several years, with mice before they'll be ready to see how this might apply to people.

This work was published in the December 6, 2005 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

[Coleus]

Embryonic stem cells have been shown to be very useful, but many object to their use on ethical grounds. >>

that is NOT true,  embryonic stem cells: have never successfully cured a person, have been rejected by patients just as they do when receiving a donor organ and have also killed people by growing teratomas (tumors), they grow uncontrollably like cancer cells,   read on for the truth on how adult/non-embryonic  stem cells have helped people:

Spinal Cord Patient Speaks out: Embryonic stem cell helps patents not patients

Canadian tries Russian stem cell treatment

Adult Stem Cell Research Treats Spinal Cord Injury Patient

REGENERATING HOPE FOR A PARALYSIS CURE (macrophages are injected into the spinal cord)

Doctors in Russia Prove that Non-Embryonic Stem Cells can be Used in Treating Spinal Cord Injuries

Adult stem cells work there is NO need to harvest babies for their body parts.

Benefits of Stem Cells to Human Patients - Do No Harm 

[el_texicano]

I was almost hoping this meant there's hope for some spineless Republicans congress critters...

[Rudder]

"We injected these hair follicle stem cells into the area where the nerve or the spinal cord is severed… [and] found that the nerve or spinal cord could be regenerated because we injected these hair follicle stem cells,"

Since hair follicle cells and neurons are from the same anlage (ectoderm) and since hair follicle cells are continously regenerating, this finding makes good logical sense.

[King Prout]

biotech

[PatrickHenry]

Thanks. I'll leave this one to AntiGuv to ping. Maybe it's for Junior's archives.

[King Prout]

ok.

an irreverent aside: wouldn't be at all pleasant to develop male-pattern-baldness of the brain after treatment with hair-to-neuron stem cells :)

[Pharmer]

Professional bump...will comment on later

[PatrickHenry]

That's a kink to be worked out.

[King Prout]

yeah... it'd be a pity for a restored brain to go all nappy-time prematurely

[PatrickHenry]

I'm waving goodbye now.

[King Prout]

awww... I'm crestfallen! Just when I was getting a lock on this particular style of jest, you brush me off! And I was really getting the hank of it, too.

Ah, well... the mane thing is for the researchers to trim that possibility out of the genetics.

[tallhappy]

Since hair follicle cells and neurons are from the same anlage (ectoderm) and since hair follicle cells are continously regenerating, this finding makes good logical sense.

I'd agree with you. The authors, though, claim the cells are pluripotent.

[piytar]

So hair stem cells and brain stem cells are related? Hmmm, maybe now we understand blondes better! /joke, please don't slap me!!!

[PatrickHenry]

It's no fur, pelting me with so many puns all at once. It makes me bristle with anger.

[From many - one.]

!!!

[AntiGuv]

FutureTechPing!

An emergent technologies list covering biomedical research, fusion power, nanotech, AI robotics, and other related fields. FReepmail to join or drop.

[From many - one.]

Off Beachcombing?

[Larry Lucido]

My cat would love one of those.

[King Prout]

I'm not blonde, so I'm nodding in agreement ;)