Nose stem cells used to treat Parkinson's

Scientists in Queensland, Australia have made a major breakthrough in research into Parkinson's disease.

The scientists from Griffith University in Brisbane have used cells taken from a human nose to successfully treat rats with Parkinson's disease.

The team led by Professor Alan Mackay-Sim have been involved in a project for the past five years concerned with research using cell therapy to repair the nervous system.

Professor Mackay-Sim is a sensory neuroscientist who specialises in olfaction, the sense of smell and along with a team of ten researchers used rats bred to develop the debilitating brain disease Parkinson's, which made the rats run around in circles.

The researchers took cells from the noses of humans suffering with Parkinson's and injected them into the rats' brains, and the rodents soon began running in straight lines.

Professor Mackay-Sim says the successful research is however a "baby step" in the long journey towards effectively treating the disease.

He says the research is promising because all animals transplanted with the human cells had a dramatic reduction in the rate of rotation within just three weeks and none of the transplants led to tumours or teratomas in the rats, as has occurred after embryonic stem cell transplantation in similar experiments.

Professor Mackay-Sim says the breakthrough is not likely to lead to a cure as it offered a treatment for the symptoms rather than stopping the disease in the first place.

Parkinson's disease is debilitating as it causes a loss of muscle control - it is currently treated with drugs that replace the essential chemical, dopamine, in the brain - but the drugs often become less effective with prolonged use.

Professor Mackay-Sim says the project indicates that healthy, non-specialised cells could change into whatever type of cell the body required.

Mackay-Sim says the cells injected into the rats changed into dopamine-producing nerve cells needed to fight the disease and the next step is trials to show the treatment was effective in a monkey - human trials are however still five to 10 years away.

Professor Mackay-Sim's research has focused for many years on 'neurogenesis', the formation of new neurons, in the olfactory epithelium, the sense organ of smell.

He believes the continual regeneration of neurons in this tissue may shed light on the way the brain develops and on ways to repair or regenerate other parts of the nervous system.

His research has shown that stem cells from the human nose have the developmental potential normally accorded to embryonic stem cells.

His team have produced stem cells grown from people with schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, mitochondrial disorders and epilepsy, and hope they will provide tools for investigating the biological causes of these conditions.

The research is published in the journal Stem Cells.