Date: August 2, 2007
More on: Stem Cells, Lung Cancer, Brain Tumor, Nervous System,
Lymphoma, Immune System
Toward An Alternative To Stem Cells For Treating Chronic Brain
Diseases
Science Daily — With ethical issues concerning use of discarded
embryos and technical problems hindering development of stem cell
therapies, scientists in Korea are reporting the first successful use
of a drug-like molecule to transform human muscle cells into nerve
cells. This advance could lead to new treatments for stroke,
Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other neurological
disorders.
Immature mouse muscle cells (left) and its transformation into nerve-
like cells (right) after treatment with neurodazine. (Credit:
Courtesy of Injae Shin, Yonsei University, Korea)Ads by Google
Advertise on this site
In the study, Injae Shin and colleagues point out that stem cell
research shows promise for repairing or replacing damaged nerve cells
to treat such diseases. However, many barriers hinder efforts to move
those therapies from lab to clinic. The use of "small molecules" --
compounds that include most drugs -- to generate new nerve cells from
easily available cells or tissues would provide a more convenient and
attractive approach to stem cell therapies, the new study notes.
The researchers exposed immature mouse muscle cells (myoblasts)
growing in laboratory cell cultures to neurodazine, a synthetic small
molecule. After one week, 40-50 percent of the myoblasts were
transformed into cells that resembled both the structure and function
of nerve cells, including expression of neuron-specific proteins.
Additional studies showed a similar transformation in a group of
human skeletal muscle cells that were exposed to the same chemical
for several days, they add.
"In conclusion, we have developed the first small molecule that can
induce neurogenesis of non-pluripotent myoblasts and the cells
derived from mature, human skeletal muscle," the report
states. "These studies build upon recent research illustrating the
value of chemical approaches for providing tools that differentiate
lineage-committed cells into other cell types."
Article: "Synthetic Small Molecules that Induce Neurogenesis in
Skeletal Muscle" Journal of the American Chemical Society, August 8,
2007.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by
American Chemical Society.
http://www.scienced
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
____________________________________________
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
