http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=646759
World first: brain cells grown in laboratory
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
14 June 2005


Scientists have grown fully mature brain cells in a laboratory for the
first time, using a technique that mimics the natural process of brain
regeneration.

It promises to open the door to new ways of treating and possibly
curing debilitating brain diseases such as Parkinson's, epilepsy and
Alzheimer's.

The scientists said they were able to produce virtually unlimited
quantities of brains cells, which could revolutionise transplant
medicine as well as leading to new drugs to stimulate the regrowth of
damaged nerves.

Bjorn Scheffler, a neuroscientist at Florida University who made the
breakthrough, said the procedure involved mimicking the natural
process through which key stem cells in the brain orchestrate partial
regeneration of the brain.

"Our study shows for the first time the entire process that goes on in
our brain for life. We can, in a dish, recapture the process in front
of our eyes," Dr Scheffler said. It was not the first time that
scientists had shown stem cells can be manipulated in the lab to
produce mature brain cells, he added. "But nobody has been capable of
replicating the process from the very first step to the very last step
- it's unique to get the whole process happening before your eyes."

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, was done with mice but the scientists believe it
is only a matter to time before they are able to reproduce the same
process of development with human brain cells.

The findings, in effect, show it is possible to construct an assembly
line for manufacturing unlimited quantities of human brain cells, or
neurons, Dr Scheffler said. "We can basically take these cells and
freeze them until we need them. Then we thaw them, begin a
cell-generating process and produce a ton of new neurons."

Professor Dennis Steindler, who led the Florida research team, said
the strength of the technique lay in its ability to identify vital
stem cells that have the power to grow into adult brain cells.

"We've isolated for the first time what appears to be the true
candidate stem cell," Professor Steindler said. "There have been other
candidates but, in this case, we used a special microscope that allows
us to watch living cells over long periods of time.

"So we've actually witnessed the stem cell give rise to new neurons.
We've watched it under a living microscope generate brand new neurons.

"For many years, different groups - including mine - have claimed
we're getting close to identifying the true stem cell progenitor,
characterising it and watching its magic.

"What we've learnt from the 50 years of research into bone marrow and
blood stem cells is to be extremely careful in claiming we've got the
mother of all stem cells in adult brain tissue," he said.

Time-lapse images taken by the scientists show how simple, immature
stem cells gradually develop and grow into the fully functioning cell
- vital to the healthy functioning of the brain.

"Now we can make a lot of brain cells from just a very small number of
these stem cells, which is great because we'd have to do that to
repair neurological disease," Professor Steindler said.

Another possibility is to use the technique as a model of natural
brain repair so that scientists can test potential drugs for
stimulating the regrowth of damaged nerves.

"We are already beginning the process of screening for compounds that
will allow this to happen perhaps without sticking anything into our
brains," Professor Steindler said.

"It's been the goal of this field of stem cell biology and
regenerative medicine to get us closer to being able to pop a pill in
your mouth when you have a neurological disorder that has a specific
action on your own indigenous stem cell population.

"This is getting us one step closer to that because we can now produce
large quantities of brain cells at will and we can now manipulate them
in the laboratory.

"The home run is that we will find drugs to mobilise our own
population [of brain stem cells], which is what this study is focusing
on.

"I'm quite optimistic we will translate this to human therapeutics in
the very near future," he added. "Because advances in the field of
regenerative medicine are occurring so quickly at the moment, it could
be anytime. It could be next week, it could be ten years. I'd like it
to be next week."

Hopes for cure

Dementia

In Alzheimer's disease parts of the brain degenerate, leading first to
loss of memory and later to loss of personality. Abnormal tissues
called senile plaques and tangles appear in the brain.

There are few treatments available though some drugs can slow
progression of the disease by a few months in some people. A treatment
that halted the destruction of brain cells or led to their
regeneration would bring new hope to millions of sufferers.

Parkinson's disease

This is a slowly progressing degenerative disorder of the nervous
system which causes tremor, delayed movements and rigidity. Its cause
lies deep within the brain, in an area called the basal ganglia.
Treatment is with a variety of drugs, including levodopa and
bromocriptine, but they do not cure or halt the progression of the
disease though they make movement easier.

Epilepsy

Anything that irritates the brain can cause a seizure, such as lack of
oxygen or a fever. In epilepsy even a minor stimulus may be enough -
flashing lights, video games or even touching parts of the body.
Repeated seizures caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain
is epilepsy. Drugs can usually control the seizures, but in 10 to 20
per cent of patients surgery has to be considered.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=646759
World first: brain cells grown in laboratory
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
14 June 2005

Scientists have grown fully mature brain cells in a laboratory for the
first time, using a technique that mimics the natural process of brain
regeneration.

It promises to open the door to new ways of treating and possibly
curing debilitating brain diseases such as Parkinson's, epilepsy and
Alzheimer's.

The scientists said they were able to produce virtually unlimited
quantities of brains cells, which could revolutionise transplant
medicine as well as leading to new drugs to stimulate the regrowth of
damaged nerves.

Bjorn Scheffler, a neuroscientist at Florida University who made the
breakthrough, said the procedure involved mimicking the natural
process through which key stem cells in the brain orchestrate partial
regeneration of the brain.

"Our study shows for the first time the entire process that goes on in
our brain for life. We can, in a dish, recapture the process in front
of our eyes," Dr Scheffler said. It was not the first time that
scientists had shown stem cells can be manipulated in the lab to
produce mature brain cells, he added. "But nobody has been capable of
replicating the process from the very first step to the very last step
- it's unique to get the whole process happening before your eyes."

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, was done with mice but the scientists believe it
is only a matter to time before they are able to reproduce the same
process of development with human brain cells.

The findings, in effect, show it is possible to construct an assembly
line for manufacturing unlimited quantities of human brain cells, or
neurons, Dr Scheffler said. "We can basically take these cells and
freeze them until we need them. Then we thaw them, begin a
cell-generating process and produce a ton of new neurons."

Professor Dennis Steindler, who led the Florida research team, said
the strength of the technique lay in its ability to identify vital
stem cells that have the power to grow into adult brain cells.

"We've isolated for the first time what appears to be the true
candidate stem cell," Professor Steindler said. "There have been other
candidates but, in this case, we used a special microscope that allows
us to watch living cells over long periods of time.

"So we've actually witnessed the stem cell give rise to new neurons.
We've watched it under a living microscope generate brand new neurons.

"For many years, different groups - including mine - have claimed
we're getting close to identifying the true stem cell progenitor,
characterising it and watching its magic.

"What we've learnt from the 50 years of research into bone marrow and
blood stem cells is to be extremely careful in claiming we've got the
mother of all stem cells in adult brain tissue," he said.

Time-lapse images taken by the scientists show how simple, immature
stem cells gradually develop and grow into the fully functioning cell
- vital to the healthy functioning of the brain.

"Now we can make a lot of brain cells from just a very small number of
these stem cells, which is great because we'd have to do that to
repair neurological disease," Professor Steindler said.

Another possibility is to use the technique as a model of natural
brain repair so that scientists can test potential drugs for
stimulating the regrowth of damaged nerves.

"We are already beginning the process of screening for compounds that
will allow this to happen perhaps without sticking anything into our
brains," Professor Steindler said.

"It's been the goal of this field of stem cell biology and
regenerative medicine to get us closer to being able to pop a pill in
your mouth when you have a neurological disorder that has a specific
action on your own indigenous stem cell population.

"This is getting us one step closer to that because we can now produce
large quantities of brain cells at will and we can now manipulate them
in the laboratory.

"The home run is that we will find drugs to mobilise our own
population [of brain stem cells], which is what this study is focusing
on.

"I'm quite optimistic we will translate this to human therapeutics in
the very near future," he added. "Because advances in the field of
regenerative medicine are occurring so quickly at the moment, it could
be anytime. It could be next week, it could be ten years. I'd like it
to be next week."

Hopes for cure

Dementia

In Alzheimer's disease parts of the brain degenerate, leading first to
loss of memory and later to loss of personality. Abnormal tissues
called senile plaques and tangles appear in the brain.

There are few treatments available though some drugs can slow
progression of the disease by a few months in some people. A treatment
that halted the destruction of brain cells or led to their
regeneration would bring new hope to millions of sufferers.

Parkinson's disease

This is a slowly progressing degenerative disorder of the nervous
system which causes tremor, delayed movements and rigidity. Its cause
lies deep within the brain, in an area called the basal ganglia.
Treatment is with a variety of drugs, including levodopa and
bromocriptine, but they do not cure or halt the progression of the
disease though they make movement easier.

Epilepsy

Anything that irritates the brain can cause a seizure, such as lack of
oxygen or a fever. In epilepsy even a minor stimulus may be enough -
flashing lights, video games or even touching parts of the body.
Repeated seizures caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain
is epilepsy. Drugs can usually control the seizures, but in 10 to 20
per cent of patients surgery has to be considered.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=646759
World first: brain cells grown in laboratory

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=646759
World first: brain cells grown in laboratory
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
14 June 2005


Scientists have grown fully mature brain cells in a laboratory for the
first time, using a technique that mimics the natural process of brain
regeneration.

It promises to open the door to new ways of treating and possibly
curing debilitating brain diseases such as Parkinson's, epilepsy and
Alzheimer's.

The scientists said they were able to produce virtually unlimited
quantities of brains cells, which could revolutionise transplant
medicine as well as leading to new drugs to stimulate the regrowth of
damaged nerves.

Bjorn Scheffler, a neuroscientist at Florida University who made the
breakthrough, said the procedure involved mimicking the natural
process through which key stem cells in the brain orchestrate partial
regeneration of the brain.

"Our study shows for the first time the entire process that goes on in
our brain for life. We can, in a dish, recapture the process in front
of our eyes," Dr Scheffler said. It was not the first time that
scientists had shown stem cells can be manipulated in the lab to
produce mature brain cells, he added. "But nobody has been capable of
replicating the process from the very first step to the very last step
- it's unique to get the whole process happening before your eyes."

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, was done with mice but the scientists believe it
is only a matter to time before they are able to reproduce the same
process of development with human brain cells.

The findings, in effect, show it is possible to construct an assembly
line for manufacturing unlimited quantities of human brain cells, or
neurons, Dr Scheffler said. "We can basically take these cells and
freeze them until we need them. Then we thaw them, begin a
cell-generating process and produce a ton of new neurons."

Professor Dennis Steindler, who led the Florida research team, said
the strength of the technique lay in its ability to identify vital
stem cells that have the power to grow into adult brain cells.

"We've isolated for the first time what appears to be the true
candidate stem cell," Professor Steindler said. "There have been other
candidates but, in this case, we used a special microscope that allows
us to watch living cells over long periods of time.

"So we've actually witnessed the stem cell give rise to new neurons.
We've watched it under a living microscope generate brand new neurons.

"For many years, different groups - including mine - have claimed
we're getting close to identifying the true stem cell progenitor,
characterising it and watching its magic.

"What we've learnt from the 50 years of research into bone marrow and
blood stem cells is to be extremely careful in claiming we've got the
mother of all stem cells in adult brain tissue," he said.

Time-lapse images taken by the scientists show how simple, immature
stem cells gradually develop and grow into the fully functioning cell
- vital to the healthy functioning of the brain.

"Now we can make a lot of brain cells from just a very small number of
these stem cells, which is great because we'd have to do that to
repair neurological disease," Professor Steindler said.

Another possibility is to use the technique as a model of natural
brain repair so that scientists can test potential drugs for
stimulating the regrowth of damaged nerves.

"We are already beginning the process of screening for compounds that
will allow this to happen perhaps without sticking anything into our
brains," Professor Steindler said.

"It's been the goal of this field of stem cell biology and
regenerative medicine to get us closer to being able to pop a pill in
your mouth when you have a neurological disorder that has a specific
action on your own indigenous stem cell population.

"This is getting us one step closer to that because we can now produce
large quantities of brain cells at will and we can now manipulate them
in the laboratory.

"The home run is that we will find drugs to mobilise our own
population [of brain stem cells], which is what this study is focusing
on.

"I'm quite optimistic we will translate this to human therapeutics in
the very near future," he added. "Because advances in the field of
regenerative medicine are occurring so quickly at the moment, it could
be anytime. It could be next week, it could be ten years. I'd like it
to be next week."

Hopes for cure

Dementia

In Alzheimer's disease parts of the brain degenerate, leading first to
loss of memory and later to loss of personality. Abnormal tissues
called senile plaques and tangles appear in the brain.

There are few treatments available though some drugs can slow
progression of the disease by a few months in some people. A treatment
that halted the destruction of brain cells or led to their
regeneration would bring new hope to millions of sufferers.

Parkinson's disease

This is a slowly progressing degenerative disorder of the nervous
system which causes tremor, delayed movements and rigidity. Its cause
lies deep within the brain, in an area called the basal ganglia.
Treatment is with a variety of drugs, including levodopa and
bromocriptine, but they do not cure or halt the progression of the
disease though they make movement easier.

Epilepsy

Anything that irritates the brain can cause a seizure, such as lack of
oxygen or a fever. In epilepsy even a minor stimulus may be enough -
flashing lights, video games or even touching parts of the body.
Repeated seizures caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain
is epilepsy. Drugs can usually control the seizures, but in 10 to 20
per cent of patients surgery has to be considered.