Parkinsons

The new research describes the implantation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to replace dopamine-producing neurons destroyed by Parkinson’s disease. Such cells not only survive the grafting procedure and manufacture dopamine, but send out their branching fibers through the neural tissue to make distant connections in the brain, just like their naturally-occurring counterparts. Credit: Shireen Dooling for the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State UniversityNeurodegenerative diseases cause neuronal damage and…

Parkinson's disease is one of the most talked-about and serious neurodegenerative diseases on Earth. The illness already scars the lives of 10 million people around the world. But now we have a new research that suggests potential treatment. The process involves non-neuronal cells and their transformation. Once they change into neurons, they can stay in the brain and do the regular functions like linking to other nerve cells making the neural tissue, forming synapses, and dispensing dopamine. These cells would help repair…

Stem cell therapies are showing huge promise in a lot of areas, but one application that has scientists particularly excited is in next-generation treatments for Parkinson's disease. A team experimenting in this area has demonstrated how implanting carefully cultivated stem cells into rats can bring about remarkable recovery from motor symptoms typical of the disease, and are now setting their sights on upcoming human trials.Parkinson's disease is considered a prime target for innovative stem ell therapies because the…

Scientists probing the biological underpinnings of Parkinson's disease have made an important discovery, shedding new light on the demise of cells that drives neurodegeneration linked to the condition. The breakthrough helps explain why some neurons are susceptible to this form of cell death, and raises some new possibilities around how it might be prevented.One of the hallmarks of Parkinson's disease is the death of neurons that generate the neurotransmitter dopamine. With a decline in dopamine comes a deterioration in…

Scientists have identified the specific brain cells that die in Parkinson's disease and discovered what makes them so vulnerable.Led by neurobiologists Tushar Kamath and Abdulraouf Abdulraouf of the Broad Institute, the team studied brain cells from individuals who had died from either Parkinson's disease or dementia, compared with people unaffected by either disorder.  What they found was a group of cells that were "highly susceptible" to degeneration, which could be prime candidates for therapeutic intervention. The…