NewScientist.com news service Stem cells from the brain do not provoke an immune response when transplanted to different parts of another individual's body, suggests a study in mice. The finding could help overcome immune rejection, one of the most difficult obstacles to developing therapies to treat people with central nervous system problems such as spinal cord injuries and Parkinson's disease. Michael Young, at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard, and US and Japanese colleagues have shown that stem cells from the brain have a special "immune privilege" even when they are transplanted to places outside their normal location in the central nervous system. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 4062 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition. Nerve cells derived from human embryonic stem cells and transplanted into paralysed rats have enabled the animals to walk again. The findings add to a growing number of studies that suggest embryonic stem cells could have a valuable role to play in treating spinal injuries. The researchers, whose work was funded by stem cell giant Geron of Menlo Park, California, say trials on people could start in just two years. But the first trials are likely to involve patients with recent spinal cord injuries and localised damage. Treating people who have been paralysed for years or suffer from degenerative nerve diseases would be far more difficult. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 11: Motor Control and Plasticity
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 5: The Sensorimotor System
Link ID: 3991 - Posted: 06.24.2010

-- In the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins researchers report that injection of human stem cells into the fluid around the spinal cord of each of 15 paralyzed rats clearly improved the animals' ability to control their hind limbs -- but not at all in the way the scientists had expected. "Our first hypothesis was that functional recovery came from human cells reconstituting the nerve circuits destroyed by the paralysis-inducing virus we gave the rats," says first author Douglas Kerr, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "Some of the tens of thousands of implanted primitive human stem cells did become nerve cells or the like, but not enough to account for the physical improvements. "Instead, these human embryonic germ cells create an environment that protects and helps existing rat neurons -- teetering on the brink of death -- to survive," he says. Copyright © 1992-2003 Bio Online, Inc.

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 11: Motor Control and Plasticity
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 5: The Sensorimotor System
Link ID: 3968 - Posted: 06.24.2010

MADISON - Scientists working with cells that may someday be used to replace diseased or damaged cells in the brain have taken neural stem cell technology a key step closer to the clinic. Writing in the current online edition (June 2003) of the Journal of Neurochemistry, scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Waisman Center describe the first molecular profile for human fetal neural stem cell lines that have been coaxed to thrive in culture for more than a year. The work is an in-depth analysis of global gene expression in human neural stem cells and demonstrates a method for prolonging the shelf life of cultured fetal stem cells, making it possible to generate enough cells to use to treat disease, says Lynda Wright, the lead author of the paper. Copyright © 2003 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 3905 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NewScientist.com news service The key gene that keeps embryonic stem cells in a state of youthful immortality has been discovered. The breakthrough may one day contribute to turning ordinary adult cells into those with the properties of human ESCs. This would end the need to destroy embryos to harvest the cells for new medical treatments. ESCs are unique as they are "pluripotent" - capable of differentiating into the different cells in the body - and hold great potential for treating damaged or diseased organs. But until now scientists did not know how a stem cell renews itself or develops into an new kind of cell. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 3862 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Transplanted bone-marrow cells may be fusing with, not replacing, damaged tissues. HELEN R. PILCHER Transplanted adult stem cells may repair liver damage by fusing with host cells, rather than by producing new liver cells, two new studies suggest. The stem cells may reprogramme host cells' genetic material. The findings are likely to fuel the debate over how versatile adult stem cells are and how they repair tissues. Adult stem cells' apparent ability to produce myriad cell types has raised hopes that transplants could treat conditions from liver disease to stroke, without recourse to the ethically contentious use of embryonic stem cells. Previous studies have indicated, for instance, that adult bone-marrow stem cells can turn into several cell types, including blood, liver, muscle and pancreas. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2003

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 3632 - Posted: 06.24.2010

John Travis A person's blood could someday provide replacement cells for that individual's damaged brain or liver, a provocative study suggests. Human blood contains so-called stem cells that can be transformed outside the body into a variety of cell types, according to the report. This unexpected, and accidental, discovery may add a new element to the politicized debate over whether stem cells that persist in adults can match the therapeutic potential of stem cells derived from human embryos. The possible new source of adult stem cells came to light when a coworker became ill and couldn't attend to petri dishes containing human blood cells called monocytes, says Eliezer Huberman of Argonne (Ill.) National Laboratory. In the body, these white blood cells migrate into tissues and mature into specialized immune cells, such as macrophages. Huberman's team has been studying the cellular signals behind this maturation. Left without nutrients, some of the unattended monocytes morphed into cells that didn't look like immune cells, Huberman's team noticed. Following up on this chance observation, the researchers identified a subgroup of monocytes that they could convert into various kinds of cells. Copyright ©2003 Science Service. All rights reserved.

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 3492 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Ed Susman UPI Science News From the Science & Technology Desk ORLANDO, Fla., (UPI) -- Scientists have achieved success in manipulating primitive cells to become nervous system cells, which, in some cases, restored leg function to laboratory animals with spinal cord injuries, they reported Tuesday. However, they cautioned, translating the promising animal work to people could take years. "These things are not impossible," said Dr. Mark Tuszynski, associate professor of neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego. "But we are looking at a time frame of several years, if everything goes well -- which it rarely does." Copyright © 2002 United Press International

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 11: Motor Control and Plasticity
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 5: The Sensorimotor System
Link ID: 2936 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By WILLIAM HATHAWAY, Courant Staff Writer Neural stem cells may actually play doctor to damaged brain cells, not just replace dead and dying ones, new research has found. And a second study appearing in the current issue of Nature Biotechnology shows transplanted stem cells also can replace lost brain tissue in mice - if they are placed within a biodegradable "scaffold" before being transplanted. In the first study, transplanted cells actually rescued mice brain cells damaged with chemicals to mimic the degeneration caused by Parkinson's Disease. Copyright © 2002 by The Hartford Courant

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 2805 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NewScientist.com news service Stem cells modified to produce a cancer-killing immune chemical can track and destroy difficult-to-treat brain tumours, US researchers have found. They hope the work in mice could lead to new treatments for people with gliomas. Standard glioma treatment involves surgery, followed by radiotherapy or chemotherapy. But tiny groups of glioma cells often spread deep into healthy brain tissue, so even if the main tumour is wiped out, the risk of recurrence of the cancer is high. Life expectancy after diagnosis is normally about one year. A team led by John Yu at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles took neural stem cells from mice fetuses and genetically engineered them to produce interleukin 12. This is an immune stimulating chemical known to kill gliomas. The team then injected the modified stem cells into implanted gliomas in the brains of mice. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 2804 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Bone marrow could save eyesight. KENDALL POWELL Bone marrow stem cells might one day deliver drugs to the eye, halting age- and diabetes-related blindness. The cells can treat a genetic condition that causes mouse retinas to degenerate1. When the stem cells - that usually make blood vessels - were injected into the fluid-filled space of the eye they became part of developing blood vessels in the retina. Faulty capillary formation is central to both the leading causes of adult blindness in the US: diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 10: Vision: From Eye to Brain
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 7: Vision: From Eye to Brain
Link ID: 2392 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Gene screen hints at what makes stem cells special. KENDALL POWELL Two teams have found the genes that distinguish stem cells from ordinary cells1,2. The list might help scientists find new types of stem cell, and coax them to grow into replacement tissues and organs. It might also resolve arguments about the merits of different types of stem cell. "People who want to battle out which stem cell can do what, can do so by manipulating some of these genes," says developmental biologist Miguel Ramalho-Santos of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. About 200 genes are at least two to three times more active in mouse stem cells than in mature brain or blood cells, the studies found. The researchers looked at embryonic stem cells, which can give rise to all types of cell, and adult nerve and blood stem cells, which are dedicated to repairing specific tissues. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 19: Language and Hemispheric Asymmetry
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 15: Language and Our Divided Brain
Link ID: 2637 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Copyright © 2002 Scripps Howard News Service By LEE BOWMAN, Scripps Howard News Service BOSTON - Scientists may be moving closer to the day when neurologists can say "brain, heal thyself." Until recently, experts were sure that new brain cells were impossible for adults to come by, that all the gray matter we get is pretty much in place well before we reach adolescence. But there's new evidence that a few regions of the brain keep churning out new cells, and new hope that the precursors of those specialized cells can be coaxed into producing other types of brain cells needed to reverse or repair damaged regions. Copyright © 2001 Nando Media

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 8: General Principles of Sensory Processing, Touch, and Pain; Chapter 19: Language and Hemispheric Asymmetry
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 5: The Sensorimotor System; Chapter 15: Language and Our Divided Brain
Link ID: 1550 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Science trumps politics Just as the Senate gears up to debate the contentious issue of human cloning, a number of startling advances are emerging that may offer alternatives to the technique. In fact, the very scientists who forced the issue by creating the first cloned human embryo last October are announcing advances toward obtaining genetically matched replacement cells for patients without creating a viable embryo. And other scientists are making progress using adult stem cells to generate new tissues. Until now, the only known way to provide new body cells containing a patient's own DNA has been to create an early-stage cloned embryo to produce the versatile stem cells that can then be prodded to become any type of body tissue. But because embryo research is such an explosive issue, progress has been stymied and lawmakers have threatened to ban the work. © 2002 U.S.News & World Report Inc. All rights reserved.

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 1491 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Sylvia Pagán Westphal, Boston A stem cell has been found in adults that can turn into every single tissue in the body. It might turn out to be the most important cell ever discovered. Until now, only stem cells from early embryos were thought to have such properties. If the finding is confirmed, it will mean cells from your own body could one day be turned into all sorts of perfectly matched replacement tissues and even organs. If so, there would be no need to resort to therapeutic cloning - cloning people to get matching stem cells from the resulting embryos. Nor would you have to genetically engineer embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to create a "one cell fits all" line that does not trigger immune rejection. The discovery of such versatile adult stem cells will also fan the debate about whether embryonic stem cell research is justified. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 1400 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Researchers isolate neuronal progenitor cells from ESCs By Laura DeFrancesco Two reports in the December issue of Nature Biotechnology show that the potential of human embryonic stem cells is being realized.1,2 One group led by S.C. Zheung at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and another led by B.E. Reubinoff from Hadassah University, Jerusalem, have isolated highly purified populations of neuronal progenitor cells from human embryonic stem cell (ESC) cultures. These papers demonstrate that human ESC cultures can be enriched for a single and specific progenitor cell type. Furthermore, the cells, which by all measures appear to be neuronal progenitor cells, behave this way in vitro and in vivo, and give rise to the major cell types of the central nervous system (CNS). The Scientist 16[1]:28, Jan. 7, 2002 © Copyright 2002, The Scientist, Inc. All rights reserved.

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 1276 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By NICHOLAS WADE If stem cells ever show promise in treating diseases of the human brain, any potential therapy would need to be tested in animals. But putting human brain stem cells into monkeys or apes could raise awkward ethical dilemmas, like the possibility of generating a humanlike mind in a chimpanzee's body. No such experiments are planned right now. But in a paper today in the journal Science, a group of scientists and ethicists is advising researchers to exercise care with such experiments, particularly if they should lead to a large fraction of a chimpanzee's brain's being composed of human neurons. The group, led by Ruth R. Faden, a biomedical ethicist at Johns Hopkins University, acknowledged the view that monkeys and apes should not be experimented on at all, but nevertheless considered what kinds of research should be permitted if the experiments were required by regulatory authorities. Clinical trials often depend on previous tests with rats or mice that have some equivalent of the human disease. But for some diseases that affect the human brain, the rodent models may not serve so well. If stem cell therapies for Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease were to be developed, the Food and Drug Administration might require tests in monkeys or apes before permitting clinical trials. Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 7648 - Posted: 07.15.2005

Scientists say they have duplicated the process of generating new adult brain cells in a controlled way in the lab. It is hoped the technique, tested so far on animal cells, will eventually allow scientists to produce a limitless supply of a person's own brain cells. The researchers believe they could potentially be used to treat disorders like Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. The study, by the McKnight Brain Institute, is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It is not the first time that immature stem cells have been manipulated in the laboratory to become brain cells. But the researchers say nobody else has replicated the process of cell maturation that goes on in the brain in such complete and close step-by-step detail before. However, a leading British expert has stressed the importance of not hyping the potential of work in this field. The researchers harnessed a technique which had already been used to produce adult blood cells outside the body. They collected immature neural stem cells at a primitive stage of development from mice and used chemicals to induce them to mature. During the process they snapped images of the cells every five minutes using a special microscope. This enabled them to create a short film showing the cells developing stage by stage into fully fledged adult brain cells (neurons). They were also able to track the physiological changes that take place during development in closer detail than ever before. (C)BBC

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development
Link ID: 7495 - Posted: 06.14.2005

US scientists believe they could use brain stem cells to cure diabetes. Although the work is not yet ready to be tested on human patients, results in animals have been promising, say the Stanford University researchers. They were able to coax the immature brain cells to develop into the insulin-producing islet cells that are lacking in diabetes. Eventually, these could be used for curative transplants, the scientists told the journal PLoS Medicine. Scientists have already been looking at using stem cells taken from embryos to treat diabetes. These are primitive "master" cells that can be programmed to become many kinds of tissue. However, there have been concerns that these cells can turn cancerous, are difficult to work with in the laboratory and raise ethical dilemmas. Dr Seung Kim and colleagues looked at whether adult stem cells taken from the brain might work just as well and avoid some of these issues. Dr Kim said: "When you look at islet cells you realise that they resemble neurons." In some insects, such as fruit flies, the cells that produce insulin and regulate blood sugar are also neurons. (C)BBC

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 13: Homeostasis: Active Regulation of Internal States
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 9: Homeostasis: Active Regulation of the Internal Environment
Link ID: 7254 - Posted: 04.26.2005

12-year-old Nathan Van Vleck of Pittsford died after a nearly lifelong fight with an exceedingly rare inherited disease known as vanishing white matter (VWM) disease. As Nathan's illness progressed, the family discussed how it might help other families and patients coping with VWM, and the family decided to allow the study of some of Nathan's brain cells for research purposes. Immediately upon his death in the hospital, a team of neuropathologists and neurobiologists worked through the night to isolate some of Nathan's brain cells, which were then grown and studied in the laboratory. The outcome was an unprecedented in-depth look at the brain cells of a VWM patient. The investigation not only yielded important knowledge about how the disease affects the brain, but it also marks one of the first times that scientists have been able to isolate neural stem cells from a patient and use them to learn what is going wrong in the brain of a patient with a complex neurological disease. The team of scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center reported its results in the March issue of the prestigious research journal Nature Medicine. VWM targets cells that make up part of the brain's white matter, turning the normally strong and durable substance into a yellowish, gelatin-like material. While we hear a great deal about the importance of our "gray matter," a term that refers to crucial brain cells known as neurons, the brain's white matter is also vital to our health. Our white matter is mostly made up of glial cells that insulate the connections between neurons. In VWM, as the white matter gradually disappears, a child typically has trouble talking and walking. As the disease progresses over several years the child has seizures, goes into a coma and often dies before reaching teen-age years. Currently there is no treatment.

Related chapters from BP6e: Chapter 7: Life-Span Development of the Brain and Behavior; Chapter 3: Neurophysiology: The Generation, Transmission, and Integration of Neural Signals
Related chapters from MM:Chapter 13: Memory, Learning, and Development; Chapter 3: Neurophysiology: The Generation, Transmission, and Integration of Neural Signals
Link ID: 7251 - Posted: 04.26.2005