More Brain Points

Fixing Up the Body

            One of the most researched biological mysteries is stem cells. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that are capable of differentiating to any type of cell, and are thus capable of giving rise to specific cells. Stem cells hold much potential for curing diseases, for example if a patient has bone damage due to cancer, stem cells that come from the bone marrow are transplanted into the patient to help resolve the damage. This is only one of the many ways stem cells are used and only one example of the potential and importance of stem cells. 

            On May 15th 2013 The New York Times published a study conducted by Oregon Health and Science University that explores techniques to treat damaged tissue. Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University, led by Dr. Shoukhrat Mitalipov,

 used skin cells from a baby with a genetic disease and merged them with donated human eggs, thus creating embryos that are genetically identical to the baby or in other words cloning the baby.  Next they extracted the stem cells from the embryos, a large step in the scientific community, as the embryonic stem cells were actually able to survive long enough for extraction.  Currently, human embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos created through fertilization, however the tissues created from those stem cells do not genetically match the patient, which risks the chance of rejection. However with this technique, the embryonic stem cells are genetically identical, preventing rejection. Embryonic stem cells can differentiate into any type of cell such as heart cells, muscles or neurons, thus with this technique and this ability of embryonic stem cells there is much hope that the stem cells will differentiate into tissues or even replacement organs to treat diseases.

            We had the pleasure of having Dr. Ye come in and lecture us about stem cell migration and differentiation using an electric field. Dr. Ye explains how the adult human brain contains several regions capable of producing neuronal stem cells. He gives us an example of an individual with cerebral ischemia, which is a condition that occurs when there isn’t enough blood flow to the brain thus leading to death of brain tissue because of lack of oxygen. In this case, the stem cells migrate to the injured brain area for repair, unfortunately only a small portion of the stem cells are migrating to the targeted area and becoming functional cells. Thus Dr. Ye, along with his colleagues, is exploring the effects of an electric field upon migration and differentiation. He explains that his research yielded that direct current of 115V/m electric field induces direction migration of the neural stem cells, and throughout the research there was indication that the same electric intensity could also be used to increase cell differentiation into neurons. To make up for the limited availability of the stem cells in the brain, laboratory studies are now focusing on direct transplantation of cultured adult neural precursor cells into the brain. Although this technique has been proven successful, the transplanted cells experience great difficulty in migrating and regenerating inside the injured tissue.       

            Just as embryonic stem cells derived from embryos created through fertilization risk the chance of rejection, maybe neural precursor cells created in the lab experience difficulty in migration and rejection because the lab born stem cells are not genetically identical to the patient. Perhaps through Mitalipov’s new technique to creating genetically identical embryonic stem cells, scientists can extract and use those cells to be transplanted in the brain and implementing Dr. Ye’s findings of an electrical field to induce migration and differentiation these cells will thus migrate and differentiate much better than the lab created neural precursor cells. Perhaps combining the two studies can also help in migrating and differentiating embryonic stem cells planted elsewhere in the body such as bone marrow. Past studies have shown that light exposure to electromagnetic field can act as stimuli for stem cells to differentiate through small signaling molecules. Both studies give society a new outlook on stem cells and science but most importantly provide hope for finding cures to diseases and now hopefully the treatments for ranging diseases from kidney failure to brain damage is around the corner.

Citations:

Ross, Christina L., Mevan Siriwardane, Graça Almeida Porada, Christopher D. Porada, Peter Brink, George J. Christ, and Benjamin S. Harrison. "The Effect of Low-frequency Electromagnetic Field on Human Bone Marrow Stem/progenitor Cell Differentiation." The Effect of Low-frequency Electromagnetic Field on Human Bone Marrow Stem/progenitor Cell Differentiation. Science Direct, July 2015. Web. 05 Dec. 2015.

Reece, Jane B., and Neil A. Campbell. Campbell Biology / Jane B. Reece ... Boston: Benjamin Cummings, 2014. Print.

Pollack, Andrew. "Cloning Is Used to Create Embryonic Stem Cells." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 May 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2015.

Ye, Hui, Mitch Nohner, Amanda Steiger, and Huiping Zhao. "Specific Intensity Direct Current (DC) Electric Field Improves Neural Stem Cell Migration and Enhances Differentiation towards βIII-Tubulin+ Neurons." PLOS|ONE. PLOS|ONE, 11 June 2015. Web. 05 Dec. 2015.