February 13, 2023 News by Marisa Wexler, MS ‘Mini-brain’ models point to poorer oligodendrocyte growth in PPMS Using stem cells derived from people with multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers developed cerebral organoids, or “mini-brains,” to better study the cellular and molecular mechanisms leading to the neurodegenerative disorder. Initial analysis showed that patient-derived stem cells, especially those from people with primary progressive MS (PPMS), tend to be…
January 17, 2020 News by Vanessa Pataia BioMed X, Merck Start Research Project for Autoimmune Diseases, Including MS BioMed XĀ announced a new collaboration with MerckĀ to create a joint research group to investigate the role of the intestinal epithelial barrier in the development and progression of autoimmune diseases, includingĀ multiple sclerosis (MS). The intestinal epithelial barrier is a physical border between the gut and the rest…
August 6, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD Research Underway on Space Station Looking at Cellular Triggers of MS and Parkinson’s An ongoing experiment at the International Space Station may help identify triggers for multiple sclerosis (MS) andĀ Parkinson’s disease by studying how nerve cells and immune cells interact when exposed to microgravity. Using patient-derived cells, researchers will study the way nerve cells grow, survive, and change their gene…
June 4, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD AxoSim Licenses Mini-Brain Technology, Which May Speed Therapy Discovery for Neurological Diseases AxoSimĀ has acquired exclusive rights to lab-grown brain miniatures, coined “Mini-Brain,” a technology developed at Johns Hopkins University that uses stem cells to create models of the human brain in a dish. This technique may help speed therapy discovery for many neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis…
October 25, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Stem Cells from MS, Parkinson’s Patients Voyaging to Space Station to Study Disease Impact on Brain in Microgravity Stem cellsĀ from patients with Parkinsonās diseaseĀ and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) are soon to voyage into space, and be brought aboard the International Space Station so cell-to-cell interactions in these neurodegenerative diseases can be studied withoutĀ gravitational forces acting on them. This research project, proposed to launch in May…
July 31, 2018 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Researchers Succeed at Generating Oligodendrocytes, Key to Myelin Renewal, in Tissue Created in Lab Researchers atĀ Case Western Reserve University School of MedicineĀ have developed a cutting-edge laboratory technique able to turn human stem cellsĀ ā special cells able to grow into any type of cell in the body ā into brain-like tissues in a culture dish. They intend to use their tool to study how myelination ā the deposition of myelin around nerve cells ā occurs in the central nervous system, and how diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) impair this process. The experimental protocol to grow these structures outside an organis) is described in the study, "Induction of myelinating oligodendrocytes in human cortical spheroids," published in the journalĀ Nature Methods. These structures, called āoligocortical spheroids,ā are small spheres that contain all the major cell types usually found in the human brain, including oligodendrocytes ā cells that produce myelin, which is the fatty substance that insulates nerve fibers. Previous cerebral organoid techniques failed to include oligodendrocytes. āWe have taken the organoid system and added the third major cell type in the central nervous system ā oligodendrocytes ā and now have a more accurate representation of cellular interactions that occur during human brain development,ā Paul Tesar, PhD, associate professor of genetics and genome sciences at Case Western's medical school and the study's senior author, said in a press release. Oligodendrocytes are essential to good brain health. Without these cells, myelin production is hampered and nerve cells cannot communicate effectively, and eventually they start to deteriorate. This is the starting point for many neurological disorders caused by myelin defects, including MS and rare pediatric genetic disorders like Gaucher disease. Using this new organoid system and these myelin-producing cells, researchers intend to study the process of myelination ā how it occurs in normal circumstances and how neurodegenerative diseases disrupt this process. āThis is a powerful platform to understand human development and neurological disease,ā Tesar said. āUsing stem cell technology we can generate nearly unlimited quantities of human brain-like tissue in the lab. Our method creates a āmini-cortex,ā containing neurons, astrocytes, and now oligodendrocytes producing myelin. This is a major step toward unlocking stages of human brain development that previously were inaccessible.ā Researchers not only demonstrated that they were capable of generating mature oligodendrocytes derived from human stem cells in vitro, but they also showed these cells were able to exert their function and produce myelin starting at week 20 in a culture dish. Their improved organoid system could also be used to test the effectiveness of potential myelin-enhancing treatments. āThese organoids provide a way to predict the safety and efficacy of new myelin therapeutics on human brain-like tissue in the laboratory prior to clinical testing in humans,ā said Mayur Madhavan, PhD, co-first author on the study. To prove this point, researchers treated organoids with promyelinating compounds known to enhance myelin production in mice, and measured the rate and extent ofĀ oligodendrocyte generation and myelination. Under normal conditions, adding promyelinating drugs to cultured organoids increased the rate and extentĀ of oligodendrocyte generation and myelin production, the team reported. But results differed in important ways using diseased organoids. Ā Specifically, treating organoids generated from patients with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease ā a fatal genetic myelin disorderĀ ā brought an in vitroĀ recapitulation of the patients' symptoms. āPelizaeus-Merzbacher disease has been a complicated disorder to study due to the many different mutations that can cause it and the inaccessibility of patient brain tissue,ā said Zachary Nevin, PhD, co-first author on the study. āBut these new organoids allow us to directly study brain-like tissue from many patients simultaneously and test potential therapies.ā Altogether, these findings demonstrate that oligocortical spheroids could be a versatile in vitro system to study how myelination occurs in the central nervous system, and a possible model for testing new therapies for neurodegenerative disorders. āOur method enables generation of human brain tissue in the laboratory from any patient,ā Tesar said. āMore broadly, it can accurately recapitulate how the human nervous system is built and identify what goes wrong in certain neurological conditions.ā