Parkinson stem cell hope

Wednesday July 14th, 2010

Scientists are developing a method of growing brain cells to investigate Parkinson's disease in greater detail, it was announced today.

Dr Richard Wade-Martins from the Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre, UK, and his team say the method uses new stem cell technology. They will attempt to grow stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) from skin cells.

These iPS cells will grow into dopamine neurons, the brain cells that are thought to cause the onset of Parkinson's disease when they are depleted. Samples will be taken from over 1,000 patients with early stage Parkinson's disease over the next five years.

"Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the UK and is set to become increasingly common as we live longer," says Dr Wade-Martins.

"iPS cells provide new and exciting opportunities to grow and study dopamine neurons from patients for the first time. This technology will prove to be extremely important in diseases which affect the brain because of its relative inaccessibility - it's far easier to get a skin sample than a brain biopsy."

Once they have grown neurons from patient samples, the team can compare the functioning of these cells compared with those from unaffected individuals. The aim is to better understand why dopamine neurons die in patients with Parkinson's.

The project will be announced today (July 14) at the UK National Stem Cell Network annual science meeting. It is funded by a 5m UK pounds Monument Discovery Award from the charity Parkinson's UK.

Dr Kieran Breen of the charity said: "This is vital research that will help us better understand the causes of this devastating condition and how it develops and progresses."

Tags: Brain & Neurology | UK News

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