Source: University of Oxford
Date: 15 July 2010
Summary:
A new stem cell technology is to be used by Oxford University researchers to better understand the causes of Parkinson’s disease. The technique will use skin samples to grow the brain cells thought to be responsible for the onset of Parkinson’s disease, allowing these important neurons to be studied in detail.
Researchers will gather data from over 1,000 patients with early stage Parkinson’s disease and take small samples of skin tissue to grow special stem cells – induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). iPS cells can be generated from accessible tissue such as the skin and then used to generate specific types of cell. The researchers will use the iPS cells to grow dopamine neurons, the brain cells responsible for the production of dopamine. It is these cells which die in patients with Parkinson’s, leading to the onset of the disease.
