University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers announced Thursday they have successfully converted human and monkey skin cells into various nervous-system cells, while bypassing the stage where the cells are usually converted to undifferentiated stem cells.
Su-Chun Zhang, the lead researcher on the project, was able to convert the cells without using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, which are traditionally used as an intermediate stage to differentiate cells into specified cells.
The researchers exposed the skin cells to a Sendai virus, which is a form of a common cold virus, for 24 hours to convert the skin cells to nervous system cells. After 24 hours, the cells are heated to kill the virus, which does not affect the cells’ genes, unlike typical IPS cells. The cells are ready to be implanted 13 days later, Zhang said.
Zhang also said the experiment is an influential breakthrough because scientists must use specific subtypes of nervous system cells to treat neurological diseases, and his research showed for the first time that this was possible to create the necessary subtypes directly from skin cells.
Additionally, the experiment results showed it is possible to create higher numbers of nervous system cells with this method than with the conventional IPS cell method, which would aid research and treatment opportunities, according to Zhang.
The researchers hope to be able to use the method in the future to treat numerous neurological diseases, including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease and spinal cord injuries, Zhang said.
