Important new animal research now suggests that these cells may be effective in treating a much broader array of brain diseases than previously anticipated, including Alzheimer's disease and many childhood brain disorders. Important new animal research now suggests that these cells may be effective in treating a much broader array of brain diseases than previously anticipated, including Alzheimer's disease and many childhood brain disorders. Investigators previously believed that the promise of these cells was limited to disorders such as Parkinson's disease in which damage is restricted to defined areas of the brain. While preliminary, the new findings raise exciting possibilities for future therapies. The current study shows that stem cells of a certain type can become distributed widely throughout the brain.
Glial cells are non-neuronal cells which play supporting roles in the brain and nervous system.
In the new study, Dr. Snyder and his colleagues injected cultured neural stem cells into the brain ventricles of newborn mice from a mutant strain that develops severe tremors by 2 to 3 weeks of age. The tremor develops because the mice lack a key protein needed to make myelin, the insulating coating that surrounds nerve fibers. The lack of normal myelin in these mice mimics the defect seen in many human demyelinating disorders, such as multiple sclerosis and a group of childhood disorders called leukodystrophies. The researchers found that most of the transplanted cells migrated throughout the brain and matured into normal-looking oligodendrocytes, the brain cells that produce myelin. These oligodendrocytes produced a significant amount of the missing protein and began to cover nearby nerve fibers with myelin just as normal oligodendrocytes would.