{"id":454,"date":"2010-02-15T22:29:10","date_gmt":"2010-02-15T22:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/?p=454"},"modified":"2010-02-15T22:29:10","modified_gmt":"2010-02-15T22:29:10","slug":"making-new-connections-stem-cells-as-treatment-for-als","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/2010\/02\/15\/making-new-connections-stem-cells-as-treatment-for-als\/","title":{"rendered":"Making new connections: Stem cells as treatment for ALS"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kelly Lohr<\/em><\/p>\n

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The motor cortex in the human brain is mapped to match specific body parts. Body parts with more devoted cortex area are generally more sensitive or have finer motor control.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Imagine slowly losing control of your muscles, first with a few twitches in your arms and legs or a slurred word here or there. Muscle failure will continue until it eventually stops your ability to move, speak, and breathe.\u00a0 This is the life of a patient suffering from\u00a0amyotrophic lateral sclerosis<\/a>\u00a0(ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder.\u00a0 Currently, there is little treatment for the rapid course of this disease, but\u00a0James Weimann<\/a>, PhD, of Stanford Medical School provides a new hope.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Weimann is part of a team of neuroscientists using transplanted neurons grown from embryonic stem cells to replace damaged cells in young animals.\u00a0 This finding is the first of its kind in that the stem cells can be directed to take on the jobs of specific brain cells while also making the correct connections with other cells. Weimann\u2019s cells\u00a0transmit information from the cortex, the neural tissue that is outermost part the mammalian brain,\u00a0specifically areas needed for motor function.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Up until this point, the issue of stem cell transplantation in the brain was making the proper neuronal connections. \u00a0As an adult organism, creating the accurate connections in the nervous is extremely complex. \u00a0During development, superfluous neural connections deteriorate with lack of use. Only the pathways with the most activity remain in adulthood. \u00a0The chemical or physical signals that once lead the way in development are no longer present. \u00a0Without such cues, it is difficult for neurons to reach their target areas. For example, the stem cells created in Weimann\u2019s lab must make connections with motor cortex in order to be an effective treatment for disorders like ALS or a traumatic brain injury. \u00a0Incorrect connections could result in further erratic brain function.<\/p>\n

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A step in the processing of human embryonic stem cells.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 While Weimann\u2019s work holds a lot of potential for further progress and treatments, the studies have involved transplantation in young animal models.\u00a0 Since the majority of neurodegeneration takes place in older adults, the next step will be to explore stem cell transplantation in adult animals.\u00a0 Weimann and his team are hopeful that these newest findings will soon be used in treatment of neurons that are lost or damaged due to spinal cord injuries or diseases like ALS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kelly Lohr \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Imagine slowly losing control of your muscles, first with a few twitches in your arms and legs or a slurred word here or there. Muscle failure will continue until it eventually stops your ability to move, speak, and breathe.\u00a0 This is the life of a patient … Continue reading Making new connections: Stem cells as treatment for ALS<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[2199,2081,2105,2198],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brain-and-body","tag-als","tag-brain-disease","tag-medical-advances","tag-stem-cells"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/278"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/sciencenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}