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Parkinson's disease gets stem cells planted in the brain
2.4 million new cells
According to Nature magazine, a 50-year-old Japanese-induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS cell) was implanted at Kyoto University Hospital in October. In total, it was 2.4 million new cells.
Parkinson's disease causes neurons to die. As a result, this leads to nerve damage and control over movements is lost. (Pictures: Kateryna_Kon / fotolia.com) Why new cells?
In Parkinson's disease, neurons that transport the messenger substance dopamine die off. The new cells will replace these dead neurons.
A new method
Only ten years ago, Shinya Yamanaka demonstrated that normal human body cells transform directly into an embryonic state and then develop into tissue.
No ethical problems
Before Yamanaka's breakthrough, this was possible only with cells from human embryos. The benefits of human embryos as cell supplier However, ethical debates broke out, with critics arguing that embryos are not a "commodity stock". With cells that are extracted from the skin, for example, this question does not arise.
Rapid progress
Yamanaka's discovery promptly led to the establishment of the CiRA Institute, whose director became the Japanese himself. In 2012 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
New cells in the eye
In 2014, doctors grafted pigment tissue out of their own cells to a woman with retinal disease, and in 2017 she used a stranger's iPS cells to a man.
Donor cells for Parkinson's
The now treated patient also received cells from a donor. Although this is more complicated than using cells from the patient's own tissues, it shortens the process of cell formation.
biobank
Japan is now building a biobank for about 140 finished iPS cell lines that are large enough to deliver therapies to the entire population of Japan.
Why Parkinson's?
The symptoms of Parkinson's disease include damage to the nervous system, then the entire musculoskeletal system fails. The cause is that neurons that produce dopamine disappear.
Symptoms of Parkinson's
Patients suffering from Parkinson's suffer from slowed movements, stiff muscles from increased tension in these muscles, tremors that occur when the body is at rest, and a lack of body balance.
Causes of Parkinson's
The causes of the disease are in the dark. What is clear is that in Parkinson's disease, exactly the nerve cells in the brain that kill the messenger substance dopamine, which transmits information to the nervous system, die off.
Is Parkinson's inheritable?
The PARK1 gene defect causes 50 percent of the offspring of a patient. The gene mutation of a parent is enough for the disease to break out. It is a variant of Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson is cured?
Currently, Parkinson's is an incurable disease. A protopase of dopamine, levodopa, keeps only the symptoms in check. The physicians now hope that stem cell therapy can replace the dead neurons - and this would be like a cure.
The success shows in practice
Whether the stem cells really become neurons, will only show the practice. After this first treatment, another five patients undergo iPS treatment. Doctors predict reliable cell therapy efficacy in 2020. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)