• Question: what conditions do you think could first be helped using transferred Brin stem cells

    Asked by anon-255314 to Richard on 19 May 2020.
    • Photo: Richard Clayton

      Richard Clayton answered on 19 May 2020:

      The first brain conditions to be treated with stem cells will probably be diseases which are caused by problems with non-nerve cells. This is because nerve cells (the cells which send electrical impulses to each other in the brain) make very long processes (called axons) which can be extremely difficult to regrow, even with stem cells! For example, the difficulty in re-growing these axons is the reason why paralysis is so hard to fix.

      However, some conditions are caused by issues with cells which support nerve cells (called glial cells). For example, a brain cell type called an oligodendrocyte makes a covering (known as myelin) which helps nerves send signals faster. A disease called multiple sclerosis is caused by loss of this special covering, and there have already been several trials testing the use of stem cells to replace the cells that make this covering.

Comments

  • Photo: Alena

    Alena commented on :

    Hi Allie, I think the transfer of brain cells or rather stem cells that have the capacity to become neuronal cells would be a real breathrough for neurodegenerative diseases. These diseases are caused by the death of neurones such as Alzheimers’ disease. Though the neuronal death in this disease is caused by abnormal protein depositions or plaques in the brain and the transfer wouldn’t cure that, it would improve the symptoms and give a chance for any treatment to work for a fuller recovery. Other possible situations that could benefit from such therapeutic transfer might be damage caused by accidents or surgery, where some of the damage could be repaired or restored by the new cells. This would be a real game changer.