A new study has identified a type of astrocyte in the brain of mice that has the unique ability to proliferate and can help repair damaged fabrics. Scientists now need to determine if there are similar cells in human brains.
A team of scientists has identified a cell type never before since it can help cure brain injuries – At least in guinea pigs.
The researchers discovered a unique type of astrocytea star -shaped cell that supports communication between brain cells, or neurons, and that keeps them healthy, stabilizing the protective barrier of the brain and regulating the balance of loaded particles and neurons signaling molecules.
In the brain, Astrocytes live in the gray substancewhich contains the main part of the neurons that contain DNA and allows cells to process the information, or in the white substance – The isolated strands that extend from some neurons.
Researchers have long studied the role of astrocytes of the gray substance, but So far little has been known about his counterparts of the white substance.
In the new, published last week in the magazine Nature Neurosciencescientists determined the function of white substance astrocytes in tissue samples of the brain of mouse. To this end, they analyzed the activity of the genes that these cells expressed or “called.”
The investigators identified Two distinct types of astrocytes of the white substance. First played the role of “housekeeper”which physically supported the nerve fibers and helped the neurons to communicate with each other.
Already the second type performed a hitherto unknown function for an astrocyte in the white substance – had a unique ability to proliferatethus creating new astrocytes.
“This is a very important discovery, because it was not known before,” he told the study co -author, Judith Fischer-SternjakDeputy Director of the Helmholtz Munich Institute for Stem Cell Research in Germany.
Researchers also found that some of these special and proliferative astrocytes were capable of moving from the white substance for the gray substance regions of the brain of the rat. This discovery suggests that these cells can act as a reservoir for new astrocytes.
If similar astrocytes are discovered in the human brain, the investigation may lead to development of new therapies To repair the brain after injury or damage, such as those caused by neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, the authors suggest.
For example, scientists could theoretically learn to manipulate astrocytes so that they proliferate and replace defective cells Or lost, explains Fischer-Sternjak.
In the future, researchers expect to learn more about how white -substantive to the astrocytes contribute to the overall health of the brain in humans.
Only then can scientists understand how astrocytes react to injuries and How can they change with disease and agingFischer-Sternjak concludes.
