Another Path to Dopamine Neurons

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EurekAlert! reports on another of the many teams working to create a cost-effective source of dopamine-producing neurons to replace those lost in Parkinson's disease: "Previously, we were able to coax these multipotent [uterine] stem cells to differentiate into cartilage cells. Now we have found that we can turn uterine stem cells into neurons that can boost dopamine levels and partially correct the problem of Parkinson’s disease ... The stem cells in this study were derived from human endometrial stromal cells that were cultured under conditions that induce the creation of neurons. These cells then developed axon-like projections and cell bodies with a pyramid shape typical of neurons. ... The dopamine levels in the mice increased once we transferred the stem cells into their brains. The implications of our findings are that women have a ready supply of stem cells that are easily obtained, are differentiable into other cell types, and have great potential use for other purposes."

Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-03/yu-usc032808.php