"Forget The Mice, Just Fast Track for Patients".
Mice the winners again.
Researchers in Canada have developed a new method to generate functional dopaminergic neurons, the dopamine-producing nerve cells lost in Parkinson’s disease, from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC).
The scientists used an antibody to selectively activate FZD5, a receptor, in the stem cells, which stimulated a specific molecular signaling pathway involved in generating new neurons from the cells. Human pluripotent stem cells can generate nearly all cell types, including neurons.
The method provides a more precise and controlled activation of this pathway, called Wnt, and may improve the differentiation of stem cells into dopaminergic neurons in the brain regions affected by Parkinson’s.
“We used synthetic antibodies that we had previously developed to target the Wnt signaling pathway,” Stephane Angers, principal investigator on the study and director of the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Toronto, said in a press release.
“This activation method has not been explored before.”
Again science pricking peoples interest.
The question is, will they see this avenue for treating Parkinson's Disease to the end?
Best Wishes to All