Epilepsy Talk

Rewiring the Brain with Cell Transplantation | August 9, 2017

Cell transplantation is an emerging approach for treating drug-resistant epilepsy.

Regenerative medicine such as this, is a relatively “simple” process in that stem cells are often cultured from the patient’s own tissue, then processed and transfused back into the body.

Cells used for transplant are sometimes genetically engineered to produce substances to reduce seizures, or protect neurons from damage.

For people with epilepsy, stem cell transplantation offers the prospect of someday preventing seizures.

In addition to treating multiple diseases, the ability to “guide” stem cells to develop into specific tissue types may ultimately benefit patients suffering from severe burns, traumatic injuries and congenital defects.

That being said, cell transplantation therapies for epilepsy are still in preliminary stages of development.

However, the encouraging results of animal studies suggest that this type of therapy may eventually be used to treat drug-resistant human epilepsy.

In about 50 percent to 70 percent of epilepsy cases, an underlying cause of seizures cannot be determined.

But in recent years, advances in genetics, biochemistry and functional imaging have helped researchers identify the biological basis of some forms of the disease.

The lab team of Scott C. Baraban, PhD, a key scientist at the UCSF, is working with mice that possess the same genetic, biochemical and anatomical defects that are seen in specific types of human epilepsy.

“The cells actually make new synapses,” says Baraban. “That’s the key feature. By making a new synapse with host cells, a transplanted cell acts more like a native cell. We’re basically rewiring the brain.”

It takes about a month for transplanted cells to spread out from the site of transplantation, settle down at their new neural addresses, grow up and connect with their neighbors.

Baraban and his colleagues have also begun working with human stem cells in a project funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

With epilepsy, the implanted cells could be used to produce inhibitory neurons

The aim is to develop a treatment, based on using cell transplantation, to calm the firestorm of overexcited brain cells that cause seizures.

While the strategy appears quite promising so far, there is plenty of additional pre-clinical work to do before any human clinical trials begin.

But the outlook looks very promising. Especially for those with drug resistant epilepsy.

 “It’s going to be a much better way of treating diseases than we currently have available,” said Dr. Steven N. Roper, neurosurgeon and professor at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

 “It’s not going to be tomorrow, but the fact that we’re using human stem cells means we’re already working on that next critical step.”

 

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Resources:

http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2008/08/7716/cell-transplantation-holds-promise-epilepsy1

http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=div3facpubs

http://www.nationalstemcellfoundation.org/regenerative-repair/

http://spacecoastdaily.com/2015/05/neural-stem-cell-implants-hold-promise-for-treating-epilepsy-says-uf-researchers/

http://neurosciencenews.com/stem-cell-neuron-transplant-epilepsy-1495/

 

 

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