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Biologists have Found a Way to Regenerate Neurons in Mice with Parkinson’s Using CRISPR Gene Editing
Using CRISPR to alter the genetics of astrocytes in mice, researchers hope they've discovered how to regenerate neurons in patients with Parkinsons disease.
Health
Scientists have found a way to use CRISPR to create new neurons in mice with Parkinson’s disease—and the new method could also be used for other neurodegenerative diseases, offering hope of a cure or treatment for potentially millions of people.
When biologists first developed the CRISPR gene-editing tool, scientists working in a wide range of specializations were able to imagine what CRISPR might be able to do for their research—and we’ve now seen the remarkable tool applied to all kinds of problems, from sickle cell disease to HIV.
Now, scientists from China and the U.S. have discovered that deleting the RNA-binding protein Ptbp-1 in a specific type of brain cell—glial cells called astrocytes—causes them to turn into useful neurons.
The degradation in motor skills associated with Parkinson’s disease stem from a loss of dopamine-emitting neurons, and securing neuronal cell numbers has been hypothesized as a potential cure for the disease, but has so far been restricted only to healing and protecting neurons because neurons don’t repopulate when they are damaged or dead the way other cells do.
Previously, tampering with Ptbp-1 within other cells has resulted in positive neuronal changes. This year a Chinese study published in Cell was also able to achieve glial-neuronal conversion using CRISPR, this time turning Müller glial cells into retinal ganglion cells, and demonstrated an alleviation of associated symptoms.