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Restoring Memory After Brain Damage Enabled by Neural Stem Cells
October 31, 2007 at 1:17 PM
Genetics & Stem Cells News
Three months after implanting the stem cells, the mice were tested on place recognition. The researchers found that mice with brain injuries that also received stem cells remembered their surroundings about 70 percent of the time – the same level as healthy mice. In contrast, control mice that didn’t receive stem cells still had memory impairments.
Next, the scientists took a closer look at how the green-colored stem cells behaved in the mouse brain. They found that only about 4 percent of them turned into neurons, indicating the stem cells were not improving memory simply by replacing the dead brain cells. In the healthy mice, the stem cells migrated throughout the brain, but in the mice with neuronal loss, the cells congregated in the hippocampus, the area of the injury. Interestingly, mice that had been treated with stem cells had more neurons four months after the transplantation than mice that had not been treated.
“We know that very few of the cells are becoming neurons, so we think that the stem cells are instead enhancing the local brain microenvironment,” Blurton-Jones said. “We have evidence suggesting that the stem cells provide support to vulnerable and injured neurons, keeping them alive and functional by making beneficial proteins called neurotrophins.”
If supplemental neurotrophins are in fact at the root of memory enhancement, scientists could try to create a drug that enhances the release or production of these proteins. Scientists then could spend less time coaxing stem cells to turn into other types of cells, at least as it relates to memory research.
“Much of the focus in stem cell research has been how to turn them into different types of cells such as neurons, but maybe that is not always necessary,” Yamasaki said. “In this case, we did not have to make neurons to improve memory.”
Source-Eurekalert
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More News on: Stem Cells - Cord Blood, Parkinsons Disease, Stem Cells - Fundamentals, Parkinsons Disease Surgical Treatment, Genetics and Stem Cells, Brain, Brain Facts, Ataxia, Brain Exercises to Improve Memory, Stem Cells
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