Brain Stroke Clinical Trial Using Stem Cells Treatment

The company Reneuron has just recently gotten the go ahead to commence a new trial that will use stem cells to treat patients with stroke damage. The trial will use stem cells to replace missing brain matter in those who have had stroke brain trauma. They are injecting doses of approximately 20 million stem cells into the stroke patients brain. Interestingly these ReN001 stem cells will not require a patient to have immunosuppression therapy. The brain should not reject these types of cells apparently. I'd say it's about time that they did a trial in human stroke patients. How many stories do we need to hear about a disorder being improved upon or "cured" in mice?

You can read a paper about Reneuron's work on stem cells at this site (pdf file).

The aim of this study was thus to develop human neuronal stem cells which can be cultured, long-term, in a proliferative undifferentiated state so that they can be expanded as needed and then differentiated into appropriate neurons. While these cell lines themselves are purely for research and could not be used in human therapy,this study paves the way for development of therapeutic stem cell lines using similar technology.

This first trial sounds like its going to enroll 12 ischemic stroke patients and test the effects of a range of cell doses. Stem cells have the potential to benefit a variety of other different mind disorders. Many mental illnesses are associated with losses of neural matter in key regions associated with cognition. A lot of people who have head injuries may also be eventually helped. The effects of brain aging could also, in theory, be reduced using stem cells.

Future brain engineering will require creative ways to precisely place neuronal stem cells within the brain to obtain optimal functioning for stroke patients.

When stem cells are implanted in the brains of mammals, they typically do not behave in the manner needed to restore proper function: they either remain growing in tight clumps, or cannot be directed reliably to the areas where they are needed. Without a way to guide the migration of transplanted cells, effective stem cell treatments in the CNS will not be possible. We have developed a method for controlling stem cell movement without requiring direct contact, using extremely powerful pulsed magnets to guide stem cells that have been incorporated iron particles.

Researchers have recently done more work to elucidate the mechanisms to control the sprouting of axons (the connections between brain cells).

The study, published today in The EMBO Journal, identified a set of proteins -- calpain and cortactin, which regulate and control the sprouting of neurons -- a mechanism known as neural plasticity. Neurons, or nerve cells, process and transmit information by electrochemical signalling and are the core components of the brain and spinal cord.

Scientists may also use more refined non-invasive brain manipulation tools such as ultrasound or deep TMS to further propel our brain manipulation capacity. This will be coupled with future brain imaging technology that will enable the visualization of the exact details of every molecular brain alteration and super computer brain simulations to run manipulation tests ahead of time. Overall, I think the capacity to heal the brain will appear almost magical in the future as our ability to shape matter to a desired configuration becomes increasingly precise.