Hope for brain cell therapies

Scientists have isolated and cultivated stem cells taken from the brains of human cadavers. In a letter to Nature, Professor Fred Gage and his colleagues from the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, describe how they have obtained stem cells and caused them to grow and develop into specialised brain cells.

The scientists took post-mortem samples from the brains of 23 people ranging from 11 weeks to 72 years old, in an attempt to find stem cells. Specific growth factors known to sustain and stimulate isolated cells were used. It was discovered that tissue taken from the younger people appeared to produce more viable cells.

So far the scientists have been able to grow at least three types of brain cell in the laboratory, but they don't know whether the mature brain cells were taken from the brain itself or whether they developed from unspecialised stem cells extracted from the dead patients.

The discovery raises hopes for possible brain cell transplant operations for people with degenerative neurological conditions such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease. So far the study has taken cells from people with neurological diseases, but the scientists believe that using samples from 'healthy' individuals might be more instructive. Professor Gage said 'cells recovered from healthy individuals could provide a model for understanding how to stimulate and guide the normal processes of brain cell growth and differentiation'.