For the past five decades pharmaceutical drugs like levodopa have been the gold standard for treating Parkinsons disease. These medications alleviate motor symptoms of the disease, but none of them can cure it.

Now a study from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm shows it is possible to coax the brains own astrocytescells that typically support and nurture neuronsinto producing a new generation of dopamine neurons.

The reprogrammed cellscould alter the course of Parkinsons, according to the researchers. You can directly reprogram a cell that is already inside the brain and change the function in such a way that you can improve neurological symptoms, says senior author Ernest Arenas, a professor of medical biochemistry at Karolinska.

Directly converting astrocytes already present in patients brains could eliminate the need to search for donor cells[and the treatment may] be less likely to cause side effects compared with current drugs. This is like stem cell 2.0. Its the next-generation approach to stem cell treatments and regenerative medicine, says James Beck, vice president and chief scientific officer, for the nonprofit Parkinsons Disease Foundation.

[Read the original study]

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Cell Therapy 2.0: Reprogramming the Brains Own Cells for Parkinsons Treatment

For more background on the Genetic Literacy Project, read GLP on Wikipedia

Read the rest here:
Parkinson's stem cell therapy 2.0: New treatment coaxes the brain to repair itself - Genetic Literacy Project