The neurons were grown from embryonic stem cells, remained healthy and functional for 15 months following implantation

Apr 4, 2015 09:35 GMT  ·  By

A paper published earlier this week in the journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience describes the use of brain cells grown in laboratory conditions to address Parkinson's symptoms in mice. 

The experiments were carried out by a team of scientists at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the D'Or Institute for Research and Education in Brazil.

Although the investigation was conducted on rodents, its encouraging outcome indicates that neuron transplants might also prove effective in treating people diagnosed with Parkinson's.

How the experiments played out

As shown by studies carried out in recent years, Parkinson's, classified as a neurodegenerative disease, correlates with a loss of dopamine-producing brain cells.

In case anyone was wondering, dopamine is a hormone that acts as a chemical messenger. In the brain, this hormone serves as a neurotransmitter, meaning that it helps transmit signals between cells.

In the initial stage of their experiments, the Brazilian researchers collected embryonic stem cells and used them to grow dopamine-producing neurons. They then transplanted these cells in mice.

Writing in the journal Cellular Neuroscience, the scientists say that, following transplantation, motor function was restored in the rodents. What's more, the transplanted cells did not form tumors.

Interestingly, the dopamine-producing neurons that helped address Parkinson's symptoms in mice but did not form tumors were exposed to a drug now used to treat stomach cancer, i.e. mitomycin C, prior to transplantation.

By comparison, the mice that received cells not exposed to mitomycin C before being transplanted into the rodent's body all died within 3 to 7 weeks following the intervention, Science Daily informs.

The scientists believe that it was the anti-cancer drug that saved the other mice by preventing the transplanted cells from growing in abnormal ways and forming potentially deadly tumors.

The researchers go on to detail that, of the mice included in these experiments, 4 went on living for 15 months without having the lab-made brain cells in their body form abnormal growths.

The treatment could also work on people

Presently, people diagnosed with Parkinson's are treated with medication or with electrical implants in the brain. These treatment options do not stop the disease from progressing, and side effects are quite common.

Given the encouraging outcome of their study on mice, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and D'Or Institute for Research and Education specialists argue that stem cells might also help treat Parkinson's in humans.

“Our technique with mitomycin C may speed the proposal of clinical trials with pluripotent cells to several human diseases. It is the first step to make this kind of treatment with stem cells possible,” said one of the scientists involved in this investigation.