Cholesterol crucial to brain development.Washington, October 3 (ANI): Swedish researchers have shown that a derivative of cholesterol is necessary for the formation of brain cells by conducting experiments on mice. Professor Ernest Arenas, from the medical university Karolinska Institutet Karolinska Institutet (often translated from Swedish into English as the Karolinska Institute, and in older texts often as the Royal Caroline Institute) is one of Europe's largest medical universities. , says that the study's findings may prove helpful for scientists in cultivating dopamine-producing cells outside the body. In a research article published in the journal Cell Stem Cell stem cell In living organisms, an undifferentiated cell that can produce other cells that eventually make up specialized tissues and organs. There are two major types of stem cells, embryonic and adult. , Prof. Arenas notes that the formation of dopamine-producing neurons during brain development in mice is dependent on the activation of a specific receptor in the brain by an oxidised Adj. 1. oxidised - combined with or having undergone a chemical reaction with oxygen; "the oxidized form of iodine" oxidized form of cholesterol called oxysterol. The researcher writes that dopamine-producing nerve cells play an important part in many brain functions and processes, from motor skills to reward systems and dependency. They are also the type of cell that dies in Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. , Prof. Arenas adds. The current study has also shown that embryonic stem cells, cultivated in the laboratory, form more dopamine-producing nerve cells if they are treated with oxidised cholesterol. According to the study report, the same treatment also reduced the tendency of the stem cells stem cells, unspecialized human or animal cells that can produce mature specialized body cells and at the same time replicate themselves. Embryonic stem cells are derived from a blastocyst (the blastula typical of placental mammals; see embryo), which is very young to show uncontrolled growth. "Oxysterol contributes to a safer and better cultivation of dopamine-producing cells, which is a great advancement since it increases the possibility of developing new treatments for Parkinson s disease," says Prof. Arenas. The researchers hoped that it will one day be possible to replace dead cells in the brains of Parkinson's patients with transplanted cultivated dopamine-producing cells. Such cells can also be used to test new Parkinson's drugs, they believe. (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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