Stem Cells and Parkinson’s Disease

In many of my previous posts, I have mentioned that one of the reasons that I am so passionate about stem cell research is the possibility that terminal or debilitating diseases can be cured. One of the diseases that scientists are trying to cure with stem cells is Parkinson’s Disease which is a disease that progressively attacks the nervous system. One of the main issues with the disease is that the symptoms appear gradually and then worsen as the disease progresses. There is no cure for Parkinson’s Disease, but patients have the choice to take medication to control the symptoms of the disease.

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However, a study posted on Monday revealed that a specific stem cell technique has cured Parkinson’s disease when tested in mice. This technique involves the implantation of stem cells into the dead nerve or brain cells. The mice tested in the laboratory setting had the version of Parkinson’s Disease that is exhibited in mice and had only a few more weeks before the disease would completely inhibit their motor skills. However using methods used in stem cell research, the researchers were able to restore the brain cells that were dying and causing the onset of Parkinson’s Disease. The mice even began to regain motor functions that were lost before the treatment.

Another major finding of the study is that human brain cells treated with the same technique were turned into dopamine-producing neurons that were lost during the progression of Parkinson’s Disease. This is an extremely important finding since Parkinson’s disease targets the dopamine receptors in the brain so the ability to produce dopamine-producing neurons can treat or cure the disease. Although the testing in both mouse and human cells has just begun, the findings of this study are a sign that stem cells can cure Parkinson’s Disease and potentially other neurodegenerative diseases.

The picture below shows the effect that Parkinson’s disease has on the dopamine receptors in the human brain.

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Although the findings in the study are very promising a lot more research will be needed to determine if the technique is safe and is possible in humans before this technique can be used. However, the medical community is excited about this finding since it is one step closer to a cure.

Parkinson’s is a disease that gravely affects the lives of individuals that are diagnosed with the disease. During the late stages of the disease, control of motor functions is lost completely. The exact symptoms associated with this loss depends on the individual case. However, the most common symptoms are tremors of the hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face, slowed movement, stiffness in the limbs and neck, and impaired balance and coordination.

Stem cell research may also allow scientists to discover more information about the cause of Parkinson’s disease. Scientists do not know the exact cause of the disease, but they have determined that genetics and environmental triggers play a role. The environmental triggers include elements such as toxins that the body is exposed to. More information about the cause of Parkinson’s can help prevent the onset of the disease in healthy individuals.

Personally, I am excited about the findings that were published on Monday. Since I am intending to pursue a career in stem cell research, this finding shows the impact that can be made by the field. However, there is still many questions about the impact that stem cells can make in diseases. The only way to answer these questions is to perform more research and determine if the stem cells are truly regenerating the dead brain and nerve tissue. Until, research on Parkinson’s disease and other diseases will continue.

Myths and Misconceptions of Stem Cell Research

In all of my past blog posts, I have discussed stem cell research and even the controversy surrounding it, but today I will be discussing several myths and misconceptions that society has involving stem cell research. Many times these myths and misconceptions arise because opposition groups are trying to persuade supporters that the practice is unethical.

One of the many misconceptions of stem cell research is that funded research is not performed ethically. California’s Stem Cell Agency is one of the institutes that are performing stem cell research that is government funded. The Stem Cell Agency takes ethical concerns in to consideration when performing research on stem cells, and adopts research standards similar to the National Institute of Health’s stem cell research program. The funded researchers at the agency must comply with regulations developed in accordance to national and international research standards for stem cell research. These regulations were actually one of the first sets of regulations involving stem cell research and are in accordance with the guidelines from the International Society for Stem Cell Research.

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Another one of the major misconceptions surrounding stem cell research is where the embryos are coming from that are used in embryonic stem cell research . Currently, the embryos being used in the research are four to five day old embryos left over from in vitro fertilization procedures. The leftover embryos that are left over after an in vitro fertilization procedure are stored in the clinic’s freezer that is designed to store the embryos. If the embryos are not donated to embryonic stem cell research, the embryos are usually destroyed.

Some embryos used in stem cell research are also from embryos that are not chosen for in vitro fertilization procedures because the embryos will have genetic defects such as cystic fibrosis or Tay Sachs disease. These genetic defects are discovered during routine genetic testing performed before the in vitro fertilization process. If the embryos were not donated to embryonic stem cell research, they would have been discarded and destroyed.

There is also an extensive consent program that is utilized to ensure that people who donate leftover embryos to the research process are fully aware of what embryonic stem cell research involves. Also under state, national, and international regulations, human embryonic stem cell lines cannot be created without the full consent of the donor.

The main myth with embryonic stem cell research is that the only way to conduct stem cell research is to destroy the embryo. There is actually a process that an embryonic stem cell research can use that preserves the embryo and does not destroy it. This method creates the stem cell lines by removing only one cell from the embryo and that one cell is used to create the cell line. The process of only removing one cell from the embryo is the same procedure utilized for embryonic genetic testing that is done in the normal in vitro fertilization process.

The final myth that I am going to disprove in this post is that stem cell research will eventually lead to a cloning process. This is impossible since every regulatory and advising programs involving stem cell research explicitly ban the use of stem cells for reproductive cloning. The National Academy of Sciences and the International Society for Stem Cell Research has even issued guidelines banning the cloning technique.

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It is very important to disprove the myths and misconceptions surrounding stem cell research especially since it is a highly debated topic in today’s society. If the wrong information is received by the government, the desperately needed funding for stem cell research can be eliminated.

Graduate Programs in Stem Cell Research

Since in my last post I briefly talked about Stanford’s stem cell research graduate program, I wanted to expand this discussion in this post. The amount of graduate programs in the field of stem cell research is increasing since the interest in stem cell research careers is also increasing. There are a few undergraduate programs for the topic, but many of the recent programs have been PhD programs.

The University of Minnesota has a stem cell biology training program as well as a PhD level minor in stem cell biology. The picture below is taken from the university’s training program website. The training program takes place before graduate school and involves both coursework and hands-on training in the laboratory. Mentors in the program also create unique training programs for each individual in the program to ensure success in the workforce.

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The PhD level minor is made available to graduate students in the fields of Neuroscience, Pharmacology, and Bioengineering that have an interest in stem cell biology. The minor also requires that a main research project be conducted by the student in a stem cell biology laboratory. While the program is only twelve credits, it is designed by the University of Minnesota’s stem cell research institute to ensure that the necessary education is received.

Washington University in St. Louis has a PhD program through their Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences in Developmental, Regenerative, and Stem Cell Biology. The program focus on students that want to become either a developmental biologist or a stem cell researcher. The unique component of the PhD program, however, is that the university requires all applicants to take a qualifying exam from the university as a part of the admissions process. The exam is a ninety minute oral exam where three faculty members quiz the applicant on developmental biology, genetics, cell biology, nucleic acids, and protein translation.

University of Southern California  has a masters degree program in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. It is also the first masters degree program in the United States involving stem cell research. The program was started in 2014, and the picture below is from the first class of students in the masters program.

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The program is a one year program that offers courses in developmental biology, human embryology, regenerative medicine, and stem cell technology. Laboratory experience is also included in the master’s program. There are over sixty labs that are involved with USC Stem Cell which runs the stem cell research facility at the University of Southern California. The goal of the program is to make students competitive applicants for either medical school or PhD programs and competitive employees in the stem cell pharmaceutical industry.

The program involves students taking twenty-five credits of courses in one year, but an optional second year for additional courses can be completed if a student wishes to extend their education. The courses include seminars, classes on current topics in the various fields outlined in the paragraph above, and courses where students speak about the research they are currently conducting in their respective laboratories.

Now that I have briefly talked about three different graduate programs, you may be wondering why these programs are so important. Stem cell research is such a new area of expertise that many of the important advances in the field were not discovered until the late 1990s and the early 2000s. This means that there are many scientific viewpoints of stem cells that have yet to be discovered. Graduate programs in stem cell research and stem cell biology are necessary so that the next generation of stem cell researchers can be properly trained to work in the field.

Careers in Stem Cell Research

As I mentioned in my previous post, my journey in discovering my passion for stem cells has led to my pursuit of becoming a stem cell researcher. So, what is a stem cell researcher? Researchers in the field conduct experiments that lead to a deeper understanding of cells and diseases. The primary goal of a stem cell researcher, however, is to understand how the regeneration process in stem cells that can repair damaged tissues can be controlled. Once the regeneration process is able to be controlled, then organs or tissues can be grown in a laboratory by the researchers so that damaged organs or tissues can be replaced.

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In a general sense, a PhD is a requirement for becoming a stem cell researcher. The PhD is usually in one of the biological sciences, like molecular biology. In fact, many universities in the United States are now offering PhD programs that specialize in stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Stanford University was one of the first programs in the nation to develop one of these PhD programs. Besides a curriculum that is specialized for this specific career, the program offers both a research program and rotation opportunities. Both of these are meant to alleviate the stress of finding lab experience in the field. Stanford’s program also incorporates a weekly seminar series.

Pictured here is a stem cell lab in Stanford’s Lokey Stem Cell Research Building.

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Another requirement for becoming a stem cell researcher is having extensive experience working in a laboratory setting. Most of the experience in the lab will come from your graduate and post-doctoral research laboratories. However, some aspects of the career may require research experience outside of the educational setting.

However, there is another major career in the field of stem cells that is not as well known. Besides your traditional medical doctor, there are doctors that specialize just in regenerative stem cell medicine. These doctors have become known as regenerative stem cell doctors.

The field of regenerative stem cell doctors is relatively new, since most of the major discoveries involving stem cells were discovered in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, the main goal of these doctors is to utilize the application of stem cells with the goal of healing patients since stem cells are already found in the body and can be considered a renewable source. Stem cells also have tremendous healing potential which I highlighted in previous posts. The extent that stem cells can be used to treat patients is still unknown since it is such a new area of research. However, the scientific discoveries that have been made so far suggest that stem cells can be used in patients to treat neurological disorders, traumatic brain injuries, diabetes, cancer, and many more ailments.

Many regenerative stem cell doctors are involved in clinical trials since many of the current medical discoveries need to be tested on more patients until it is determined that stem cells have the ability to treat the specific symptom or disease that is being targeted. The clinical trials are also occurring in all three areas of stem cells, embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, and stem cells from other species. This is to ensure that a treatment is not being missed due to it originating from a stem cell species that isn’t being tested. The clinical trials also incorporate patients with autoimmune diseases and genetic blood diseases.

Regenerative stem cell doctors can also be involved in cancer research and pharmaceutical product development for various types of diseases.

The world of stem cells is wide open for the people brave enough to enter it.

My Journey in Learning about Stem Cells

Most people can pinpoint the exact moment that they found their passion in life. My passion started in my ninth grade biology class when we were assigned to research what stem cell research is and the ethical debate behind it. Some of the debate mentioned in that assignment was whether stem cell research was the same concept as cloning. What started out as another assignment ended up igniting my passion for molecular biology and subsequently stem cell research.

Right before the assignment was introduced, my biology teacher used Dolly the Sheep to introduce cloning. This was due to both topics encompassing the field of genetics.

So, what about the assignment sparked my interest in the field of stem cell research? Both of my parents are in health-care professions so medicine interested me from a young age. Reading scientific articles about how stem cell researchers believe they can cure terminal or chronic illness immediately grabbed my attention. But then I got to the ethics part of the assignment, and I couldn’t stop researching. I was amazed that something so ground-breaking could be so controversial especially in the realms of politics and religion.

At that time, I believed that I wanted to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering  so that I could design prosthetics. However, I went out of my comfort zone in my sophomore year of high school when my chemistry teacher decided after three days of having me as a student that he wanted me to perform a research project stimulating controlled-release therapy of drugs using only pineapple juice and gelatin. I undertook the massive project and for the next six months I slowly fell in love with research. Something that I was afraid of undertaking taught me that I had to go out of my comfort zone in order to find what made me happy.

I never expected that in the middle of my junior year of high school, I would suddenly decide that biomedical engineering wasn’t where my heart was. After feeling lost, my english teacher assigned an argumentative paper on an ethics issue in today’s society. I chose stem cell research since I already knew it was such a controversial topic. My teacher also knew about my uneasiness about not knowing what I wanted to do later in my life. After reading my essay, she pulled me aside and said that I should look into pursuing stem cell research as a potential career.

Even though that advice made me consider possible degree options that would lead to a career in stem cell research, the final push that I needed was in my high school anatomy class. We were studying the epithelial system, which is the cells that make up the various types of tissue in the body. My teacher thought that the best way to show the importance of the system was to show a video about various cases where the epithelial system was severely damaged.

The device pictured above was shown in the video. It is a spray gun that has been engineered to specifically spray stem cells. The purpose of the device is to use a person’s stem cells to produce new skin cells in a significantly less time than a skin graph would take. This would significantly reduce the risk of infections after treatment. The device was tested on patient with second and third degree burns, and the before and after pictures were shown.

I immediately decided that this was the path that I wanted to pursue in my life. I decided to pursue a degree in molecular biology and eventually decided to continue my education at Penn State. My journey in stem cell research has just begun and I can’t wait to see where it take me in the future.

 

 

 

Traumatic Brain Injuries and Stem Cell Research

Traumatic brain injuries are a widely discussed topic in modern society especially with the staggering evidence that concussions can lead to significant neurological deficiencies. You may have seen the recent movie Concussion focusing on the traumatic brain injuries suffered by NFL players. However, you may be wondering where stem cells fit into traumatic brain injuries. Last week, scientist revealed that using a the patient’s own stem cells, helps to preserve brain cells in a patient suffering from a traumatic brain injury through stem cell therapy.

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The clinical trial conducted at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston showed that the stem cell therapy appears to dampen the neuroinflammatory response that occurs when a person undergoes a traumatic brain injury. This is what helps to preserve the brain tissue that is usually damaged when an injury occurs.

The next phase for researchers is to conduct a phase 2b clinical trial in order to determine if the stem cell therapy is safe for medical professionals to use. The Department of Defense has awarded the center $6.8 million dollars to conduct this clinical trial, however.

So why is this finding so important? The Center for Disease Control reports that every year 1.7 million Americans undergo a traumatic brain injury. 275,000 of these cases require hospitalization and 52,000 traumatic brain injuries are fatal. In fact, it is third in the rankings for injury-related deaths in the United States.

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Currently, there are therapy options for traumatic brain injuries. Surgery is one of these options. Currently, many cases involve the surgical repair of blood vessels and brain tissue. Surgery can also be used to relieve pressure in the brain from swelling.

The purpose of the clinical trial was to research the possibility of a new and more effective treatment option in order to reduce the lasting impacts of a traumatic brain injury.

Advancements in a Cure for Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s Disease affects many American’s and has been in the spotlight lately with the recent passing of Muhammed Ali from the disease. There is currently no cure for the disease but medicine and brain surgery are an option that may helps those inflicted with the disease. The reason that a cure is so desperately needed for this disease is that it impedes the movement of an individual. This is why stem cell research in this area is expanding rapidly.

Recently, Swedish scientists have discovered a set of markers that are likely to help control the quantity of stem cells engineered for use clinically for Parkinson’s Disease. The researchers focused their research on dopamine neurons since Parkinson’s is attributed to loss of dopamine. In fact, one of the discovered markers was the key features that distinguish dopamine cell development from the development of other cells. This discovery may help perfect stem cell engineering so they the engineered dopamine neurons are of high quality and can potentially cure the disease.

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http://www.medindia.net/patients/patientinfo/images/parkinsons-disease.jpg

 

As Parkinson disease progresses, the brain cells located in the substantia nigra  malfunction and die.

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https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/art/large/parkinson-disease.jpeg

 

Where does stem cell engineering come into the picture? As these dopamine cells die, they are not replaced. However, stem cell engineering brings the possibility of transplanting the necessary cells that can replace missing dopamine cells and replenish the supply. In 2014, a study proved that it is possible to produce dopamine cells from embryonic stem cells and replace the dead cells in rats. In the animal studies, the new dopamine receptors grew within months of the transplantation.

Your next question may be if we know that it works in rats, why can’t we start transplants in humans. The issue is the cells need to be the right quality in order to maintain that the transplant is successful. The main reason for this is that tracking the process in humans is much more difficult than it is for rats. Regardless of this, the cure for this disease may be near.

Is Embryonic Stem Cell Research Ethical?

You may be thinking that since stem cells have all of these medical advantages, there is no controversy surrounding them. However, this is not the case. Many critics of the practice have critiqued the practice in many aspects in what is now known as the Stem Cell Debate. Many of these controversies have developed recently, even though stem cells have existed since the late 1990s.

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The main controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells is whether the embryos are destroyed and used for the research when they could have become a child. Many opponents of the practice cite the morality of the practice. Most individuals who argue against the morality of the practice are practicing Christians who feel that it violates their religion.

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The issue of morality with embryonic stem cell research comes from the practice of using in vitro fertilization to grow embryos in the laboratory setting for use in various research settings. Catholic groups have argued that the practice is similar to abortion and needs to have laws regulating it like abortion clinics have to follow. Scientists, however, argue that the embryo had no chance of surviving at the point where they utilize it, so it is not an immoral practice. This controversy has even led to funding being decreased from the federal government since it was unsure whether the process should be allowed.

The answer to this issue may be human cloning. In this case the person is not cloned, but their cells are cloned. The process allows adult cells in the body to develop the ability to replicate into embryonic stem cells. The nucleus of the adult cell is what makes the process possible since it contains the information necessary for the cell to be cloned. In this process the use of embryos is eliminated. However, scientists are not sure if this process will be able to be used therapeutically and have the same effect as the true embryonic stem cells.

 

Uses of Stem Cell Research

In my last few posts, I have discussed the various types of stem cells. These cell types can be applied in the research setting for a plethora of uses. Each stem cell type has its own unique set of uses based on its characteristics. However, all three cell types have the potential to treat or cure many life-threatening or chronic illnesses.

Human embryonic stem cells are currently being used in studies where the main goal is to discover more concrete information about what occurs during development so that the mechanism of turning unspecialized stem cells into specialized stem cells may be discovered. This information may not seem integral into the treatment or cure of diseases but it is one step to finding new genetic information. Genetic information that may be stored in embryonic stem cels may be the key to discovering how some diseases develop.

Human stem cells are being used in many different ways. They can be used to test new drugs. Current research has shown that stem cells may accelerate the process of drug research and its subsequent path to becoming an approved drug. The stem cells used for drug research have the ability to reveal the potential side effects of  drug before it is tested on humans. This use of stem cells has not only accelerated the drug testing process, but has saved drug companies millions of dollars.

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Stem cells are also used in research utilizing cell therapy. Since they have the ability to replace damaged cells in the body, cell therapy can be used to replace damaged cells with healthy stem cells. Patients with extensive burns have been treated with stem cells to repair damaged skin cells. Leukemia and other disorders found in the blood have also been treated with stem cell research. The main component of this practice is the promise of stem cells being used to replace cells associated with diseases that are currently incurable.

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

In the last blog post I discussed one of the most interesting aspects of stem cell research, the distinct differences between the two classes of stem cells. In this post, I also discussed some of the issues with adult stem cells compared to embryonic stem cells. Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells have been researcher’s solution to this challenge. In fact, they were not discovered until 2007, but the practice has become the future of regenerative medicine.

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These cells begin as adult stem cells, but they are genetically altered so that they behave like embryonic stem cells. However, it has not been determined yet if there are any minor differences between indices pluripotent stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Now, you may be asking why they are called induced pluripotent cells if they act like embryonic stem cells. The name comes from the fact that these specific cells have the pluripotent properties of stem cells induced onto them by the genetic alterations made by scientists.

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Even though this cell type was discovered only nine years ago, the outstanding potential for these cells is tremendous. UCLA Stem Cell Research has shown that these cells can become active motor neurons, liver cells, and blood cells. But what does this mean? Paralyzed individuals may be able to walk again once their motor neurons are regenerated. Liver cells can be regrown instead of a patient waiting for months or years on a transplant list with the risk of dying before a transplant. Blood disorders and blood cancers have the potential of being cured. There is also promising research in using these cells to help treat ALS, Rett Syndrome, and other disease that affect the muscular system. Simple skin cell samples of patients allow researchers to study the disease’s affect on the cells in the hopes of using induced pluripotent cells to repair the detrimental damage.