Parkinson's disease was cured with the help of stem cells
Japanese scientists have grown dopaminergic neurons from stem cells in the primate brain. This opens the way to successful treatment of Parkinson's disease in humans.
Parkinson's disease is a common, progressive neurodegenerative disease in which neurons in the middle part of the brain die. This leads to various neurological disorders, eventually the patient loses the ability to move.
There are different ways to treat Parkinson's disease, but the available therapy is only able to slow down the development of the disease.
One of the most promising ways to treat Parkinson's disease is the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS cells). They are reprogrammed to grow full-fledged cells and tissues from them.
Despite such an important perspective, long-term studies of dopaminergic neurons derived from human IPS cells have never been conducted on primates before.
Scientists from Kyoto University conducted the first preclinical studies of this kind. Crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were used as models. Macaques received the neurotoxin MPTP, a compound that destroys dopaminergic neurons and causes symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Then the animals were transplanted dopaminergic progenitor cells derived from IPS cells. At the same time, eight cell lines obtained from healthy people and three from patients with Parkinson's disease were used in the work.
The cells transplanted into the monkey brain took root and successfully functioned as dopaminergic neurons. The increase in the number of voluntary movements in monkeys after transplantation is confirmed by a quantitative assessment expressed in points and video recordings. Also, the axons of mature dopaminergic neurons formed a dense network in the black substance of the recipient's brain. The effectiveness of the transplant did not depend on whether stem cells were obtained from patients with Parkinson's disease or from healthy people.
At the same time, the transplanted cells did not lead to the formation of tumors in the brain for at least two years.
Thus, a preclinical study conducted by Japanese scientists on primates showed that the precursor cells of dopamine-producing neurons derived from IPS cells are clinically applicable for the treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease.
The results of the study are published in the journal Nature.
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01.09.2017