CAN HUMAN NEURAL STEM CELLS REPLACE DAMAGED BRAIN CELLS?
Human neural stem cells can replace and take over the functions of damaged nervous system cells in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis, according to the findings of a recent study. “Our results indicate that cell replacement therapy using human neural stems cells could be an effective therapy” for patients with multiple sclerosis, said lead author Seung U. Kim, MD, a neurologist at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. According to Dr. Kim, the results may also be significant for patients with other neurologic disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease or stroke, in whom researchers hope neural stem cells will be able to replace damaged cells. One goal of Dr. Kim’s research is to replace the lost oligodendrocytes with new ones derived from neural stem cells. A first step in that direction was achieved recently when Dr. Kim and colleagues managed to induce stem cells from the brains of human fetuses to continue to grow and produce new cells in vitro. “In the present study, we trans
