Brain cell transplants could be the key to beating Alzheimer’s disease, doctors claim
Alzheimer’s disease is a cruel disease that is destroying the lives of millions of people worldwide, slowly robbing them of their memories and independence.
Now scientists at McGill University, Canada, may have found a key to treating the neurological disease: by transplanting brain cells.
Astrocytes – named for their star-like shape – are a type of brain cell that protects nerves and is vital for processing information.
Studies show that these cells decrease in number as Alzheimer’s disease progresses, especially in the areas of the brain responsible for memory.
Scientists believe that replacing damaged astrocytes could help restore some of the lost brain function seen in Alzheimer’s disease, as well as other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.
According to neuroscientists at McGill University, Canada, brain cell transplants are a “promising and exciting strategy” in the treatment of neurological disorders.
An animal from 2023 study published in The Journal of Neuroscience showed that performing these types of transplants in mice could yield significant benefits.
An important feature of Alzheimer’s disease is not only the general loss of cells in the brain areas responsible for memory formation, but also the loss of astrocytes.
Some mice were genetically modified to be green and the other mice to be red. Scientists then transplanted these cells into the brains of newborn mice
The experts said the first and crucial stage in figuring out whether transplants are a viable option is to see if the cells successfully implant in the brain.
To investigate this, researchers from the McGill University Health Center Research Institute extracted astrocytes from the cerebral cortex – the part of the brain responsible for learning to think and solve problems – of healthy, newborn mice.
The mice were genetically modified so that their brain cells glowed red – so experts could monitor them in scans. These cells were then transplanted into the brains of other mice.
These transplanted cells remained in the new brain for a year, where they integrated and developed normally.
Transplanted astrocytes had a similar number of receptors and so-called ion channels – essential for different parts of the brain to communicate with each other.
However, scientists noted that the age of the mouse when the cells were transplanted made a difference to the results.
The astrocytes migrated and spread extensively in the brain of a young adult mouse, but in older mice the cells failed to move from the transplant site.
The study also found that astrocytes in different parts of the brain and spinal cord exhibit very different characteristics and do not always integrate well into different parts of the brain.
Last researchpublished in Biology & Life Sciences, has shown that transplanting astrocytes can promote brain plasticity – the brain’s ability to adapt – and regeneration after injury and in neurological diseases.
Another small study by researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, involving mice with Parkinson’s disease, saw that those given astrocytes returned to a state where they were not sick and remained that way for their entire lives .
Researchers say more studies on transplanted astrocytes could help improve the lives of patients with many different types of neurological disorders.
