Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease that blights the lives of millions worldwide, slowly robbing them of their memories and independence.
Now, scientists at McGill University, Canada, may have found a key to treating the neurological disease — by transplanting brain cells.
Astrocytes — named for their star-like shape — are a type of brain cell that protect nerves and are vital for processing information.
Studies show that these cells reduce in quantity as Alzheimer’s takes hold, particularly in brain areas responsible for memory.
Scientists believe that replacing damaged astrocytes could help restore some of the lost brain function seen in Alzheimer’s, as well as other neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease.
According to neuroscientists at McGill University, Canada, wrote for brain cell transplants are a ‘promising and exciting strategy’ in the treatment of neurological conditions.
A 2023 animal study published in The Journal of Neuroscience showed performing these types of transplants in mice could result in significant benefits.
A key hallmark of Alzheimer’s is not just the general loss of cells in brain regions responsible for memory formation, but also the loss of astrocytes
Some mice were genetically modified to have green and the other mice to have red. Scientists then transplanted these cells into the brains of newborn mice
The experts said the first and vital stage in figuring out if transplants are a viable option is to see if the cells successfully implant into the brain.
To investigate this, the researchers, from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, extracted astrocytes from the cerebral cortex — the area of the brain responsible for thinking learning and problem solving — of healthy, newborn mice.
The mice were genetically modified so that their brain cells would glow red — so that experts could track them in scans. These cells were then transplanted into the brains of other mice.
These transplanted cells lasted for a year in the new brain, where they integrated and developed normally.
Transplanted astrocytes had similar numbers of receptors and what’s known as ion channels — vital for helping different parts of the brain communicate with one another.
However, scientists noted that the age of the mouse when the cells were transplanted made a difference to the results.
The astrocytes migrated and spread extensively in the brain of a young adult mouse, but in older mice, the cells failed to veer from the site of transplant.
The study also revealed astrocytes in different regions of the brain and the spinal cord display very different features and don’t always integrate well in different parts of the brain.
Previous research, published in Biology & Life Sciences, has shown that transplanting astrocytes can promote promote brain plasticity — the brain’s ability to adapt — and regeneration following injury and in neurological diseases.
Another small study by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, involving mice with Parkinson’s Disease, saw those given astrocytes, return to a non-disease state and stay that way for life.
Researchers say more studies into transplanted astrocytes could help to improve the lives of patients with many different types of neurological diseases.
