Salk scientists
developed a new technique to grow
aged brain cells
from patients’ skin. Fibroblasts
(cells in
connective tissue) from elderly human donors
are directly
converted into induced neurons, shown.
Image: Courtesy of
the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
(October 8, 2015) The
new technique allows scientists to study diseases like Alzheimer's and
Parkinson's using cells from human patients
For the first time, scientists can use skin samples from
older patients to create brain cells without rolling back the youthfulness
clock in the cells first. The new technique, which yields cells resembling
those found in older people’s brains, will be a boon to scientists studying
age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
“This lets us keep age-related signatures in the cells so
that we can more easily study the effects of aging on the brain,” says Rusty
Gage, a professor in the Salk Institute’s Laboratory of Genetics and senior
author of the paper, published October 8, 2015 in Cell Stem Cell.
“By using this powerful approach, we can begin to answer
many questions about the physiology and molecular machinery of human nerve
cells–not just around healthy aging but pathological aging as well,” says
Martin Hetzer, a Salk professor also involved in the work.