 |
For stem cell researchers, this is an encouraging report which
indicates neurogenesis in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) patient's brain.
If this finding is true, just increasing the stem cell population in the
patient’s brain might help to regenerate dying neurons in AD. Since we
have a small-molecule compound that increases endogenous stem cell
population about sixfold in 27-month-aged rats by peripheral injection, we may be able to develop an application for this drug in AD
treatment.
However, as the author pointed out, APP- or PS-mutant
transgenic mice show impaired rather than increased
neurogenesis. Such a conflict may come from the different patient
populations, namely, sporadic and familial AD, meaning if they analyze
familial AD they might find different results. Furthermore, their best
clear finding is an increased level of PSA-NCAM in severe AD cases,
and PSA-NCAM is not necessarily a marker for neuronal progenitors
because it is also expressed in reactive astrocytes (Nomura...
Read more
For stem cell researchers, this is an encouraging report which
indicates neurogenesis in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) patient's brain.
If this finding is true, just increasing the stem cell population in the
patient’s brain might help to regenerate dying neurons in AD. Since we
have a small-molecule compound that increases endogenous stem cell
population about sixfold in 27-month-aged rats by peripheral injection, we may be able to develop an application for this drug in AD
treatment.
However, as the author pointed out, APP- or PS-mutant
transgenic mice show impaired rather than increased
neurogenesis. Such a conflict may come from the different patient
populations, namely, sporadic and familial AD, meaning if they analyze
familial AD they might find different results. Furthermore, their best
clear finding is an increased level of PSA-NCAM in severe AD cases,
and PSA-NCAM is not necessarily a marker for neuronal progenitors
because it is also expressed in reactive astrocytes (Nomura et al., 2000). Thus, we may be able to say that AD brain is still trying to regenerate its neurons, but we need further investigation to confirm if spontaneous neurogenesis really occurs in AD.
 View all comments by Kiminobu Sugaya |
|
Home
