How to treat Parkinson’s with astrocytes

Parkinson’s disease is characterized by neuronal loss in the brain’s substantia nigra region. What if another cell type, namely, astrocytes, could replace them?

Astrocytes for parkinson's
Blausen.com staff (2014). “Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014“. WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010

The work of two research groups recently published shows that, at least in mice, transforming astrocytes (a non-neuronal cell type in the brain) into neurons is possible and that this change reverts partly the movement defects of Parkinson’s disease.

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