Functional nerve cells from adult skin cells generated by UConn scientists

Researchers from UConn have successfully shown that stem cells derived from adult skin cells can be converted to functionable cells of the forebrain, midbrain, and spinal cord.

The obtained adult skin cells were reprogrammed to transform into induced pluripotent stem cells. These reprogrammed cells are identical to embryonic stem cells. To obtain the embryonic-like pluripotent cells, the adult skin cells were exposed to a specialized culture. Obtaining the specialized neuronal cells was accomplished by treating the reprogrammed cells to a series of chemical mixtures.

The ability to convert adult skin cells to embryonic-like cells eliminates the option of destroying human embryos to obtain human embryonic stem cells. However, some researchers are uncertain whether induced pluripotent stem cells are of the same quality as human embryonic stem cells.

This is a really exciting article because the UConn lab is the first lab to obtain human induced pluripotent stem cells to create functional neurons in region specific areas of the brain and spinal cord. By using human induced pluripotent cells, scientists will potentially be able to create perfect matches of cells for patient-specific therapies that would be immune to rejection. With continued research, therapies for neurological diseases can be achieved.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-10-functional-nerve-cells-adult-skin.html

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0011853