A new neuron reprogrammed from spinal cord astrocytesZHIDA SUThe spinal cord cannot make new neurons during adulthood, so if its supply is destroyed by disease or injury, the loss is permanent. But Zhida Su and his colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have found a way to potentially solve this problem, at least in mice.
The researchers have developed a two-step method for transforming astrocytes—star-shaped support cells in the nervous system—into neurons, all in the bodies of living rodents. Although they have not yet shown that these new neurons actually work, “there is great potential for therapy,” said Chun-Li Zhang, who led the study. ”The spinal cord is one of the regions of the central nervous system where we can have the most direct impact.”
The study, published today (February 25) in Nature Communications, is the latest in a series of attempts to manufacture new neurons from other cell types. In 2008, Marius Wernig from the Stanford University School of Medicine converted rat skin cells into a stem-like state and then into neurons, and transplanted them back into the rodents ...
