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news.Scientists conducting research with embryonic stem cells from mice have announced findings they say could one day help scientists create laboratory environments to grow specialized cells that can be transplanted into patients to treat brain disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
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The scientists at the University of Florida’s McKnight Brain Institute observed that when embryonic stem cells from mice were plated on four different surfaces in cell culture dishes, specific types of cells would arise.
The findings are to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“The medium and the molecular environment influence the fate of the cell,” said Dr Dennis Steindler, executive director of the McKnight Brain Institute. “We simulated some events that occur while the brain is developing and challenged them with different environments, and the effects are profound. Ultimately both nature and nurture influence the final identity of a stem cell, but in early stages it seems nurture is very important.”
In experiments, scientists confirmed a cell culture surface molecule called laminin activates a common developmental pathway that is crucial for the generation and survival of particular types of brain cells.
The laminin-influenced stem cells are a kind that goes on to generate a brain structure called the medial ganglionic eminence, which in turn is believed to give rise to a population of early neurons in the developing cerebral cortex, a structure that helps coordinate sensory, motor and cognitive function.