Restoring brain cells lost in neurodegenerative diseases.

In a study published this week in nature, reversing a model of Parkinson's disease with in situ converted nigral neurons uses a single step method to transform non neuronal cells in the brain into functional neurons in isolated human cells and mice.this technique has been proved to be able to reverse the symptoms of Parkinson's disease in mice models, or point out a new way to explore the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.one of the main goals of regenerative medicine is to replace neurons lost in neurodegenerative diseases and promote the integration of new neurons into functional neural circuits.for example, Parkinson's disease is characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain regions responsible for reward and movement.Fu Xiangdong and his colleagues at the University of California, San Diego, have shown that astrocytes can be transformed into functional dopaminergic neurons.astrocytes are non neuronal cells of the brain, which can produce an RNA binding protein called ptbp1, which can prevent astrocytes from becoming neurons.the authors report that removal of ptbp1 can turn astrocytes into normal neurons and reconstruct the lost neuronal circuits; this approach can also restore dopamine levels in mouse models of Parkinson's disease and treat their dyskinesia.it is important that ptbp1 is also inhibited by antisense oligonucleotides. At present, this therapy shows great prospects in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.removal of ptbp1 can promote neuronal regeneration of human and mouse astrocytes | credit: Fu et al.however, the authors caution that research is still needed before the therapy can be used in humans.after further improvement, this therapy is expected to treat Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.paper in nature: reversing a model of Parkinson's disease with in situ converted nigral neurons, long press and identify the right QR code, read the full text → @ nature| doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2388-4