Dr. Hui Ye of Loyola University research is now centered around stem cell galvanotaxis which is movement of an organism or any of its parts in a particular direction in response to electric field . Dr. Ye is addressing a a major issue in stem cell research involving neurons by the use of applied physics. After generating new neurons for replacement therapy scientists have struggled in manipulating new neurons to migrate to injury sites where previous neurons have been damaged or died. It is a huge feat for stem cells to make a full transformation into a neuron and for a neuron to be transplanted into an injured host for therapy purposes. The ability to create a neuron allows for the possibilities of curing degenerative diseases, illness, and injury... but without the ability to control the migration of newly formed neurons in a host, science cannot achieve replacement of diseased neurons with new neurons without the ability to freely guide neurons.
Dr. Ye's approach to studying stem cells involved collecting a cell culture of stem cells from young animals and recording cellular voltage changes using whole cell recording, in which an electrode is injected into a cell to read its electrical state. By using a charge strip with negative and positive ends, cells via galvanotaxis migrate from the positive to the negative end. Dr. Ye is just beginning to understand how galvanotaxis causes cells to migrate, but his hypothesis is that migration of stem cells in the presence of an electric field may be due to calcium. Dr. Ye's work shedding light on ways in which scientists and the medical field might one day be able to guide new neurons to repair injury and prevent neuronal degeneration.
Research approaches to using stem cells in neuroscience vary and all help scientists to further their understanding on the works of the brain especially in neuro-degenerative disease. One fascinating use of stem cells to hit the science news circuit via Scientific American is the use of stem cells to grow a "mini-brain." This brain is more like a clump of neuronal tissue, but because of the right mixture of nutrients and nudges science was able to create a brain prototype. News like this shows how versatile stem cells can be and how useful they are in studying. In particular, studying a "mini-brain" can shed much insight into learning about degenerative diseases and how they arrive and in what ways might be useful for treatment and prevention. It was a huge surprise and a success to have something of this magnitude in stem cell research to work!
Cross-section of "mini-brain" grown from human stem cells
The approach to "growing brains" is still in its early phases, but like all scientific research early stages are key to future successes. Stem-cell derived mini-brains lack the physiological aspects of a live brain, but ultimately the tissue clumps can be used for further studies . The fall backs in this research are ultimately a stepping stone to see where and how far stem cells can take scientists in understanding the the causes and cures to neurological diseases.
Work like Dr. Hui Ye's and the scientists who created the "mini-brain" are just examples of the many researches in the neuroscience and biology field harnessing the power of stem cells to gain insight into neurological diseases. The path difference between the two methods show how diverse this field of research is and how young stem cell research is and how far stem cell research will grow in the years to come.
Link to News Article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=stem-cells-mimic-human-brain
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