A Parkinson’s Stem Cell study conducted in Sweden’s Karolinska Institute has demonstrated an ability to restore dopamine-producing neurons that are damaged in patients with the disease.
Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease caused by a loss of dopamine neurons in the brain. Treatments currently focus on supplementing dopamine as well as slowing the advance of some symptoms; however, they do not halt the progression of the neurodegeneration. Stem cell researchers are working to find a novel approach for future treatments.
Parkinson’s Disease Attacked Using Regenerative Medicine
The Swedish study was conducted on laboratory mice and then repeated using human brain cells grown in a laboratory. In both instances, researchers were able to observe the restoration of dopamine-producing neurons following stem cell treatment.
Sweden has become ground zero of sorts for Parkinson’s stem cell research. Sweden’s Lund University conducted a slightly different study in the fall of 2016 with similar results.
The ability to restore the cells that produce dopamine is a critical first step in long-term treatment of the disease. The damage and loss of those cells eventually results in a loss of mobility and eventually mental functions. There are no cures for the disease; however, some medications are able to slightly delay the advance of some symptoms.
Treatment using drugs attacks the disease by replenishing the loss of dopamine; however, it does not address the root cause; stem cell scientists are attempting to go around this hurdle by regenerating those cells.
Karolinska’s researchers used a chemical cocktail that triggered brain cells called astrocytes to revert back into stem cells. Those cells were then further triggered using advanced cellular engineering techniques to become dopamine neurons.
Results Following Stem Cell Treatment
Progress was measured following the initial procedure. New dopamine neurons were detected at three-weeks. Those same cells were deemed to be “abundant” at 15 weeks. This provided a substantiation that the cells had remained in their new state and had not reverted back or died off.
All mice affected with the disease had a walk or gait that is typical for patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Five weeks after undergoing the procedure, those same mice no longer exhibited signs of the disease when they walked. Their gait was the same as non-affected mice.
Tempered Enthusiasm
Researchers fully understand that these successes are far from their end goal; however, they do mark another step forward in the journey towards a sustainable treatment for patients.
“This is not going to happen in five years or possibly even 10, but I’m excited about the potential of this kind of cell replacement therapy.”
– James Beck, Chief Scientific Officer, Parkinson’s Foundation
While this study produced remarkable results, scientists understand that many details need to be worked out before this sort of solution could be taken main stream. For example, the chemical cocktail was delivered to the mice via an engineered virus. Further work would need to be conducted to ensure the same results in human hosts.
Likewise, this approach does not wipe out the disease; but it could buy an additional 15-20 years of productive life.
References:
Induction of functional dopamine neurons from human astrocytes in vitro and mouse astrocytes in a Parkinson’s disease model | Pia Rivetti di Val Cervo, Roman A Romanov Giada Spigolon, Débora Masini, Elisa Martín-Montañez, Enrique M Toledo, Gioele La Manno, Michael Feyder, Christian Pifl, Yi-Han Ng, Sara Padrell Sánchez, Sten Linnarsson, Marius Wernig, Tibor Harkany, Gilberto Fisone, & Ernest Arenas | Nature Biotechnology
