BrainMeta.com Forum > Why stem cell implants in the brain may not work...

Full Version: Why stem cell implants in the brain may not work...

BrainMeta.com Forum > Science > Neuroscience > Theoretical Neuroscience

dutch84

Jan 23, 2008, 12:35 AM

...because of unexplained, pre-existing sulci and/or gyri formations which may be incompatible with implants. Since the brain is an organt that is continually growing and changing from birth til death, it is possible that implanting new cells that are not familiar with the "habits" of the old cells could result in damage. Such damage has already been documented as "tumors" by previous researchers (www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2004/11/65735) and are known to act as obstacles to attainment of a viable neurological stem cell implant. I believe that overcoming this obstacle would be a matter of a systematic understanding of progressive growth of nerve cells with regard to their reaction to various stimuli both at the cellular level as well as in the brain as a whole. Knowing this could help us better understand how the brain would react to an implant and aid us in either creating the appropriate conditions for an implantation to take place, knowing when a subject is a viable candidate to receive an implant (i.e. the subject already possesses a brain in which the appropriate conditions exist) or knowing when implantation is not an option (i.e. appropriate conditions do not exist and can not be created artificially or otherwise)...

The research has probably already been done, though. I'm always late when it comes to these things. *shrug* Oh well...

If you know of any relevant works, feel free to post articles.

Orbz

Jan 23, 2008, 06:51 PM

This may be related.

Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2007 Oct;7(10):1487-98.
The future of cell therapies in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
Goya RL, Kuan WL, Barker RA.

QUOTE

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurological disorder of the brain which has as a part of its core pathology the progressive degeneration of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway. Therefore, cell therapies that aim to restore this degenerated dopaminergic network represent a promising strategy in helping to cure PD. In this review, the authors start by discussing the progress of research on the use of fetal ventral mesencephalic (VM) tissue in transplantation therapies in PD, both from the clinical and experimental perspectives. Then the issues pertinent to its adoption in the clinic are discussed, including the ethical and practical problems with its use, the varied composition of VM tissue that is implanted with the graft and how this may account for some of the problems seen in the clinical trials using this tissue, especially graft-induced dyskinesia. Finally other promising sources of tissue for PD cell therapy are described, including mesenchymal and embryonic stem cells, before concluding on what is the best approach to the cellular repair of the parkinsonian brain.

I'd be interested in research that shows natural induction of brain growth factors like NGF etc.

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