A team of investigator from the University of California , San Diego , have achieved a watershed triumph in the competitiveness against dementia by developing a one - off treatment that appears to permanently cureParkinson ’s diseasein mice . Describing their method in the journalNature , the study authors are hopeful that the same physical process can one 24-hour interval be used to process a wide stove of neurodegenerative conditions in human .
Parkinson ’s and other form of dementia occur whenneuronsbecome damaged and die , which is why scientist have spent tenner attempting to come up with treatments to either protect these brain cells or generate new ones to replace those that are lose . Remarkably , the team behind this latest discovery were capable to achieve this by altering a single gene .
phase one of this discovery fall out in a petri cup of tea , where the investigator fine-tune the genetic computer code of non - neuronalbrain cellscalled astrocytes . These are star - shaped cell that sustain communicating throughout the genius , and produce a protein called PTB which ensures that they remain astrocytes and do n’t transform into neurons .
Once the investigator blocked the yield of PTB , however , a salient metabolism take place as the astrocytes in the dishful transformed en masse shot into neurons .
“ What we ’ve observe is that forcing PTB to go away is the only signal a cell needs to turn on the factor needed to create a neuron , ” explained study generator Xiang - Dong Fu in astatement .
To test whether this principle could be hold to treatdementiain a last brain , the squad induced Parkinson ’s disease in mouse using a substance that ruin theirdopamine - producing neurons . In humans , Parkinson ’s appears when nerve cell that grow dopamine stop functioning in part of the mid - mental capacity called the substantia nigra .
The written report authors then inject artificial DNA that blocked the production of PTB direct into the mid - brain of these mice , which induce astrocytes in this realm to transform into young Dopastat - bring out neurons . Within 12 week of treatment , the rodents ’ dopamine levels had return to normal , leading to a complete cessation of microseism and other Parkinson ’s symptom .
surprisingly , the mouse remain entirely free of symptom for the rest of their lives , suggest that a unmarried treatment may be all that is want to fully reverse the disease . Commenting on this unprecedented outcome , Fu explicate that “ this whole novel scheme for treating neurodegeneration give promise that it may be possible to help even those with advanced disease . ”
Naturally , it ’s too early to bear that this principle will apply as to humans , and Doctor of the Church wo n’t be injecting any stilted DNA into the brains of any Parkinson ’s diseased person . However , with a trivial more research it may be possible to recrudesce new treatments to sparkle the creation of newfangled nerve cell in the brains of people suffering from dementia and other forms of neuronic legal injury .
