科普知识学英语 研究人员成功将皮肤细胞转化为少突胶质细胞.docVIP

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have succeeded in transforming skin cells directly into?oligodendrocyte（少突细胞）?precursor cells, the cells that wrap nerve cells in the insulating myelin?sheaths（髓鞘）?that help nerve signals propagate. The current research was done in mice and rats. If the approach also works with human cells, it could eventually lead to cell therapies for diseases like inherited?leukodystrophies（脊髓损伤）?-- disorders of the brains white matter -- and multiple sclerosis, as well as spinal cord injuries. The study will be published online April 14 in Nature Biotechnology. ? Without myelin to insulate neurons, signals sent down nerve cell axons quickly lose power. Diseases that attack myelin, such as multiple sclerosis, result in nerve signals that are not as efficient and cannot travel as far as they should. Myelin disorders can affect nerve signal transmission in the brain and spinal cord, leading to cognitive, motor and sensory problems. ? Previous research in rodent disease models has shown that transplanted oligodendrocyte precursor cells derived from embryonic stem cells and from human fetal brain tissue can successfully create myelin sheaths around nerve cells, sometimes leading to dramatic improvements in symptoms. Unfortunately, the availability of human fetal tissue is extremely limited, and the creation of OPCs from embryonic stem cells is slow and tedious, said the studys senior author, Marius Wernig, MD, assistant professor of pathology and a member of Stanfords Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. It appeared we wouldnt be able to create enough human OPCs for widespread therapeutic use, so we began to wonder if we could create them directly from skin cells. ? Nan Yang, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in the Wernig laboratory and lead author of the study, pointed out that there is another advantage to using this technique. By using the patients own skin cells, we should be able to generate transplantabl