Tuesday, April 29, 2014

New Steps in neuron regeneration

Can neurons fix themselves? This question was asked by Dr. Calkins from Vanderbilt University. If this is true, this opens the door for the nervous system to be included in regenerative medicine. Although popular belief was to stop the disease by means pharmalogical methods before the cells were completely damaged. Regenerative medicine intervenes after the cells were destroyed and damaged. This intervention has been performed by introducing stem cells into the damage site. Yet, Dr. Calkins asked the question if there is a mechanism for self-repair that could take place before the damage began. Neurodegenerative diseases would be a great topic to see this hypothesis proven true. Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that is not lethal but makes life more burdensome. The degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons is what causes this disease. The neurons in the midbrain are connected to parts of the brain that responsible for motor control.  Some patients go under drug therapy. Although this process helps increase the dopamine concentration, with continue exposure there is a decrease in influence from the drugs, and the disease will persist.  However, researchers think they may have discovered a way to relieve patients from Parkinson’s disease. Introduce dopanergic neurons in the damaged area, also known as cell grafting. The key player for this process to be a success is the manipulation of Wnt signaling. This signaling pathway is known to affect neural development, guidance, axon outgrowth, and axonal remodeling.  By manipulating the expression of Wnt in embryonic stem cells, there has been an increase in survival of dopanerigic neurons when introduced to the damaged area of the midbrain.  These new connections of the neurons has improved motor function, the connectivity of the cells in these grafts are no where near the complexity of that in the brain. Also, the ethical challenge of receiving embryonic stem cells creates a limit on the amount of cells introduced into a patient.  Although there are some hiccups there is a certain step forward in the study of Parkinson’s disease. Researchers are on the brinks of finding long time relieve; with perseverance and patience there is hope that no one else will have to suffer from Parkinson’s disease.


Parish, Clare, and Lachlan Thompson. "Modulating Wnt Signaling to Improve Cell Replacement Therapy for Parkinson's Disease." Journal of Molecular Cell Biology 6.1 (2013): 54-63. PubMed. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://jmcb.oxfordjournals.org/content/6/1/54.long>. 

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