Parkinson’s Disease May Have Link to Stroke March 2017
https://www.nature.com/
The therapy has been shown to improve symptoms of the condition in monkeys.
NEWS
David Cyranoski
Neurons
created from reprogrammed stem cells. Researchers in Japan will use
similar cells to treat patients with Parkinson's disease.Credit:
Daniel Schroen, Cell Applications Inc./SPL
Doctors in Japan are poised to implant neural
cells made from ‘reprogrammed’ stem cells into the brains of people with
Parkinson’s disease. It is only the third clinical
application of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are
developed by reprogramming the cells of body tissues such as skin to
revert to an embryonic-like state, from which they can morph into other
cell types.
Researchers have used the technique to
generate precursors to the neurons that make the neurotransmitter
dopamine, which degenerate and die in people with Parkinson’s disease.
Physicians at Kyoto University Hospital will inject 5
million of these precursor cells into the brains of seven people with
the condition. Because dopamine-producing neurons are involved in motor
skills, people with the condition typically experience tremors and stiff
muscles. Participants will be observed for
two years after the transplantation.
One of the trial’s leaders, stem-cell
scientist Jun Takahashi at the Center for iPS Cell Research and
Application in Kyoto, demonstrated in 2017 that the precursor cells
differentiated into
dopamine-producing neurons in monkeys that had a version of the disease. They also had improved symptoms1.
In 2014, ophthalmologist Masayo Takahashi —
Takahashi’s wife — at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe
developed an iPS-cell-based therapy to treat retinal disease. And in
May, a team at Osaka University received approval
to use cells created from iPS cells to
treat heart disease.
doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-05856-w
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