(JP)Stem cells used to heal monkey spines

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20011211a2.htm

 

Stem cells used to heal monkey spines

 

Doctors at Keio University in Tokyo have succeeded in

restoring mobility to monkeys crippled with spinal

cord injuries, by transplanting neural stem cells

obtained from the spinal cords of fetuses, Hideyuki

Okano, the team leader, said Monday.

 

It was reportedly the first time in history that

researchers have succeeded in restoring mobility to

primates with spinal cord injuries.

 

Okano, a professor at the medical department of Keio

University, said that while the injured spinal cords

of the monkeys were not completely mended, the results

of the group's experiments may have opened the door to

curing injuries of this kind in humans.

 

The group extracted neural stem cells from dead

fetuses, multiplied them in test tubes, and

transplanted them into five marmosets that had lost

mobility in their hands and feet because of spinal

cord injuries, Okano said.

 

Although the ability of the monkeys to grip sticks was

initially less than 10 percent that of healthy

monkeys, eight weeks after the transplants this

ability rose to nearly 50 percent, Okano said.

 

The group believes the animals recovered their

mobility after the neural stem cells grew into nerve

cells and connected neural circuits that had been cut

off by the injuries. The group transplanted the stem

cells after pinpointing when injury inflammation had

died down and before the immobility symptoms became

chronic.

 

The doctors said the success of the transplants was

down to timing.

 

They knew from previous experiments on primates that

transplanting the cells immediately after the injury

was an unsuccessful strategy due to inflammation.

 

The Japan Times: Dec. 11, 2001

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