Neuroscience
From sfgate.com:
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Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain
- Abstract Of The Day: Alzheimer Disease Drug Treatments
Brinton RD & Wang JM (2006). Therapeutic potential of neurogenesis for prevention and recovery from Alzheimer's disease: allopregnanolone as a proof of concept neurogenic agent. Curr Alzheimer Res., 3(3), 185-190. Department of Molecular Pharmacology...
- P16-ink4a
From The New York Times: Gene Found to Switch Off Stem Cells During Aging By NICHOLAS WADE Published: September 6, 2006 Biologists have uncovered a deep link between lifespan and cancer in the form of a gene that switches off stem cells as a person ages....
- Obituary: Dr. Ira Black
From The Philadelphia Inquirer: Neuroscientist Ira Black, stem-cell expert The Philadelphia Inquirer 11 January 2006 link Associated Press NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Ira Black, 64, an internationally recognized clinical neuroscientist and a founding director...
- Growing Neurons From Stem Cells In The Lab
A Reuters report, published in a number of different sources, including Wired News:Stem Cells Get Brainy By Reuters 04:04 PM Jun. 13, 2005 PT WASHINGTON -- Scientists working in mice said they had found a way to identify master cells in the brain...
- Embryonic Stem Cell Neurological Research
Moving Stem Cells Front and Center By ANDREW POLLACK The New York Times Published: February 23, 2005 IRVINE, Calif. - Hans S. Keirstead might be the Pied Piper of stem cells - and not just because he makes rats walk. He also helped lure Californians...
Neuroscience
Stem-Cell Research: Batten Disease
From sfgate.com:
Trials for stem-cell treatment of brain disease[ ... Read the full article ... ]
Clinical testing set to begin on kids with fatal affliction
Cornelia Stolze, Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Staff Writers
San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, October 21, 2005
Researchers in California are about to start the first FDA-sanctioned clinical trial of a stem cell treatment for a brain disease.
The trial will offer regulators one of their first opportunities to reveal what standards should apply for novel "regenerative medicine" experiments in human subjects. Special safety concerns include the long-term cancer-causing potential of stem cells and the risk that they may wire into the brain's circuitry improperly.
"A great deal of attention will be paid to the outcome of this trial," said Dr. Arnold Kriegstein, a neurologist and head of a stem cell program at UCSF, who is not involved in the new study. "It really represents the first trial of its kind. Regardless of the outcome, all of us interested in cell-based therapies will be watching what happens."
The study is sponsored by a small Palo Alto biotech company, Stem Cells Inc., to test the safety of injecting fetal-derived neural stem cells into the brains of children suffering from a rare and always fatal disorder known as Batten disease.
The condition afflicts about 2 to 4 of every 100,000 children born in the United States. Babies may appear normal at first, only to begin losing coordination and suffering seizures several months after birth. Eventually, children become blind, bedridden and unable to communicate before they die at an early age. No therapy is available to stop or even slow down the symptoms.
The problems are caused by a gene mutation, which leads to a lack of an enzyme needed for proper recycling of certain substances that otherwise can build up in the brain. The stem cells are intended to serve as delivery vehicles to get the missing enzyme where it's needed.
Two Stanford physicians -- Dr. Gregory Enns, an assistant professor of pediatrics and director of the biochemical genetics program at Stanford, and Dr. Stephen Huhn, chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Packard Children's Hospital -- helped design the trial protocol. They intend to begin the first procedures sometime next year, if an internal review board at Stanford gives its consent.
Enns said families with Batten disease have little choice but to try a novel approach.
"This is an unremitting disease that is particularly tragic," he said. "Right now there is nothing we can do to stop the progression of this terrible disorder."
-
Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain
- Abstract Of The Day: Alzheimer Disease Drug Treatments
Brinton RD & Wang JM (2006). Therapeutic potential of neurogenesis for prevention and recovery from Alzheimer's disease: allopregnanolone as a proof of concept neurogenic agent. Curr Alzheimer Res., 3(3), 185-190. Department of Molecular Pharmacology...
- P16-ink4a
From The New York Times: Gene Found to Switch Off Stem Cells During Aging By NICHOLAS WADE Published: September 6, 2006 Biologists have uncovered a deep link between lifespan and cancer in the form of a gene that switches off stem cells as a person ages....
- Obituary: Dr. Ira Black
From The Philadelphia Inquirer: Neuroscientist Ira Black, stem-cell expert The Philadelphia Inquirer 11 January 2006 link Associated Press NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Ira Black, 64, an internationally recognized clinical neuroscientist and a founding director...
- Growing Neurons From Stem Cells In The Lab
A Reuters report, published in a number of different sources, including Wired News:Stem Cells Get Brainy By Reuters 04:04 PM Jun. 13, 2005 PT WASHINGTON -- Scientists working in mice said they had found a way to identify master cells in the brain...
- Embryonic Stem Cell Neurological Research
Moving Stem Cells Front and Center By ANDREW POLLACK The New York Times Published: February 23, 2005 IRVINE, Calif. - Hans S. Keirstead might be the Pied Piper of stem cells - and not just because he makes rats walk. He also helped lure Californians...