Stem Cell Research Poses Great Possibilities in Degenerative Diseases

What do we want to accomplish in our lives? Have you found your passion? Hui Ye, a neurobiology professor at Loyola University Chicago begins his presentation talking about how he floated on throughout his life until he had to decide what to do with it after college. He mentioned that he finally found a subject which caught his interest. Professor Ye found his passion in doing research in tumor suppression in rats because he wanted to learn more about neuronal degenerative diseases. He begins his presentation by defining the word galvanotaxis: when cells move in an electric field by response. Professor Ye says that the problem with recently added stem cells is that they do not necessarily migrate to the targeted area so by exposing the induced stem cells to an electrical field, it provides a possible solution to this problem. The magnetic field causes the stem cells to migrate and morph. Professor Ye hopes of accurately moving these stem cells to the target areas of degenerative neurons in order to restore the function of these neurons.

His researched consisted of two cases that involved the testing of rats. In the first one, they injected stem cells into the spinal cord to form oligodendrocytes to form myelin sheaths in order to conduct neural passageways again. But unfortunately it was very difficult to accomplish this task because of scar tissue. Another issue was not being able to track the stem cells after they were injected into the spinal cord, so in order to force the stem cells to form at a certain area, they must first be detected once injected inside. The second case consisted of finding out that neuroblasts are located in a certain area that can tell us about the nature of how neuroblasts communicate. Just to clarify, a neuroblast is an embryonic cell from which nerve fibers originate. By learning how neuroblasts work, one can compare their function to stem cells and figure out how to make them work as well. Professor Ye's current work is figuring out how to push the stem cells through scar tissue in order to pinpoint the exact injured area by whole cell patching. He reports an experiment where the stem cell was placed in a petri dish and left alone for an hour with the magnetic field turned on. He told us of his hypothesis which states that the reduction of calcium will promote actin polymerization to help it move. The migration of the cell in an electric field is due to the calcium mediated cell cytoskeleton change. Through Professor Ye's hard work, he can hopefully be able to accomplish the task of moving the stem cells to the injured location of a neuron in order to restore that tissue and help defeat the degenerative disease.

I came across an article titled, "Parents hire own researchers to tackle rare, fatal disease," where parents whose son, Ethan, has GAN (Giant axonal neuropathy) are very supportive of the research put forth towards finding a cure for this disease. The disease damages the neural pathways affecting the muscles of the victim and claiming them by early adulthood. The article is a very interesting read that tells the story of parents who have funded researchers to hopefully raise awareness of GAN since the amount of people affected by it are only 25-30 in the world. The dedication coming from the parents and researchers reminded me of how Professor Ye found his interest in figuring out the damaged neurons and how to build new ones using stem cells. I have a feeling that stem cells do pose a great possibility in restoring damaged cells' functions that could help find cures for many degenerative diseases, but there is still a lot to learn in the role of stem cells and how to manipulate them exactly. Ethan's mom has a lot of faith in science and has dedicated herself to learning about the field to better inform herself. She states, "You can never tell where the next lead is going to come from…what will start you down the path to the next miracle."

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http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-23/health/ct-met-warrior-moms-0523-20120523_1_rare-disorders-proteins-mary-dunkle/2