A neural transplantation to repair the brain of a mouse – Health News

© A. Gaillard, Inserm

This is a world first and it was performed by a Franco-Belgian team: the team Afsaneh Gaillard (Inserm Unit 1084, Laboratory for Experimental and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Poitiers) in collaboration with the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Human and Molecular Biology of Brussels. They managed to repair the brain of an adult mouse through a transplant of cortical neurons derived from embryonic stem cells.

The cerebral cortex is one of the most complex structures of the brain, it is composed a type of neural hundred organized into six layers and into many separate areas on the neuroanatomical and functional.

Brain injuries, whether traumatic or degenerative origin, cause cell death associated with significant functional deficits. To overcome the limited capabilities of spontaneous regeneration of neurons in the adult central nervous system, cell replacement strategies by transplantation of embryonic tissue present an interesting potential.

A major challenge for brain repair is to get cortical neurons layer and suitable area to specifically restore the injured cortical pathways.

The results obtained by the teams and Afsaneh Gaillard Pierre Vanderhaeghen of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Human and Molecular Biology Brussels demonstrate, for the first time, in mice, that differentiated pluripotent stem cells into cortical neurons are used to restore damaged adult cortical circuits on the neuroanatomical and functional.

These Results also suggest that the restoration of damaged roads is possible only by neurons of the same type that the injured area.

This study is an important step in the development of cell therapy applied to the cerebral cortex.

This approach is still experimental stage (only in laboratory mice). Much research is needed before any clinical application in humans. However, for researchers, “the success of our cell engineering experiments, to generate nerve cells in a controlled and unlimited, and transplant them, is a world first. This work opens up new avenues of approach to repair damaged brain, especially after stroke or traumatic brain injury, “they said.

This project was funded by National Research Agency (ANR-09 . -MNPS-027-01)

Credit / source: Inserm release

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