14 DAY TRIAL // A collaboration of researchers in the United Kingdom announces an important breakthrough in the field of stem cell research. The group was able to create human motor nerve cells from embryonic stem cells (ESC) in the lab, and hope to use these cells to treat motor neuron disease.
Thus far, there were no methods of growing motor neurons available to science. The investigators were able to bring new hope in a field of research that was desperately trying to avoid coming to a standstill.
The researchers – based that University of Cambridge, the University of Edinburgh and Cardiff University – were able to create a number of motor neurons, which are used to relay electrical impulses originating in the brain or the spine to other sections of the human body.
One of the things that made motor neurons so hard to create was the fact that they have different appearances and display properties depending on their location throughout the spinal cord.
Due to the fact that the experts were able to create several types of motor neurons, this raises hopes of being able to intervene on motor neuron disease in a variety of location, not just a single spot.
This advancement will also aid researchers looking into the causes of the disease determine where the conditions originates in the spine. They will also be able to investigate whether certain types of motor neurons are more prone to being affected than others.
Details of the method used to convert ESC in the different types of motor neurons were published in the March 1 issue of the esteemed scientific journal Nature Communications.
The team also hopes to gain a better understanding of some basic activities that motor neurons control, such as for example swallowing, breathing, speaking and walking.
“Although motor neurons are often considered as a single group, they represent a diverse collection of neuronal subtypes,” explains University of Cambridge expert Dr. Rickie Patani.
“The ability to create a range of different motor neurons is a key step in understanding the basis of selective subtype vulnerability in conditions such as motor neuron disease and spinal muscular atrophy,” the expert goes on to say.
“Motor neurons differ in their make-up, so understanding why some are more vulnerable than others to disease is important for developing treatment for this devastating condition.” adds scientist Siddharthan Chandran.
He holds an appointment as a professor and the director of the Euan MacDonald Center for Motor Neuron Disease Research at the University of Edinburgh.