Release date: 2018-06-11
On June 4th, an article in the PNAS journal entitled "Transdifferentiation of human adult peripheral blood T cells into neurons" revealed the discovery that scientists have successfully transformed immune cells in the blood directly into functional neurons.
This dramatic shift does not require the state of the cell to undergo pluripotency, but rather a more direct approach – transdifferentiation.
This transformation has a relatively high efficiency – up to 50,000 neurons can be produced in 1 ml of blood – whether it is fresh or previously frozen stored blood samples. Researchers believe that this strategy has greatly increased the chances of studying neurological diseases such as schizophrenia and autism.
“Blood is one of the most accessible biological samples,†said Dr. Marius Wernig, associate professor of pathology at the Stanford University's Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. “Almost all patients who visit a hospital leave blood samples, and these blood samples are usually Freeze and store for future research."
Transdifferentiation technique
Human cell models based on the construction of induced pluripotent stem cells have proven to be powerful sources of disease mechanisms, but for genetically complex neurological diseases, hundreds of individuals need to be included to identify dozens or More effects of disease-related mutations. "Getting induced pluripotent stem cells from a large number of patients requires complex reprogramming processes and is costly. In addition, acquiring skin cells is an invasive process," Wernig explained.
The transdifferentiation technology was originally developed by the Wernig team in 2010. They successfully transduce the skin cells of mice into neurons, avoiding the step of first inducing mature cells into pluripotent stem cells.
Although it is possible to directly convert skin cells into neurons, skin cells first need to be cultured in the laboratory for a period of time until their number increases. This process is likely to result in genetic mutations, and these mutations are not present in the original cells. Researchers want to know: Is there a simpler and more effective way to generate patient-specific neurons?
New research
In the latest study, the Wernig team “locks†the T cells circulating in the blood (representing the identification and elimination of invading sources and cancerous cells). A nerve cell is a long, thin cell that is responsible for transmitting electrical signals. Although these two types of cells are very different in shape, location, and biological mission, the researchers unexpectedly found that they can change rapidly—in just a few days, they can simply turn T cells into functions. Neurons, and do not require cell expansion.
Although the resulting human neurons are not perfect and lack the ability to form mature synapses or connections, they have major basic functions. Next, the Wernig team hopes to further optimize the technology and they begin collecting blood samples from children with autism. “For decades, we have had few effective clues about the origin or treatment of autism. Now we are finally able to start answering some questions.†Wernig thought.
Reference materials:
Researchers transform human blood cells into functional neurons
Source: Bio-Exploration
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