Source: The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids)
Date: July 5, 2012
Summary:
TORONTO – Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have found that metformin, a drug commonly used to treat Type II diabetes, can help trigger the pathway used to instruct stem cells in the brain to become neural (nerve) cells. Brain stem cells and the neural cells they generate play a role in the repair of the injured or degenerating brain. This study suggests a novel therapeutic approach to treating people with brain injuries or potentially even neurodegenerative diseases. The study – led by Dr. Freda Miller, Senior Scientist at SickKids and Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto – is published in the July 5 advance online edition of Cell Stem Cell.
