Source: Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Date: November 11, 2010
LA JOLLA, CA—A collaborative effort between researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the University of California, San Diego, successfully used human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from patients with Rett syndrome to replicate autism in the lab and study the molecular pathogenesis of the disease.
Neurons generated from Rett-iPS cells form fewer synapses, the specialized signal transmission points between brain cells. Synapses are shown in red and dendrites, which function as signal receivers, are shown in green. Their findings, published in the November 12, 2010, issue of Cell, revealed disease-specific cellular defects, such as fewer functional connections between Rett neurons, and demonstrated that these symptoms are reversible, raising the hope that, one day, autism maybe turn into a treatable condition.
