Researchers cultivate more than 400 types of brain cells – a jump for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s research

When scientists produced neurons of stem cells in Petrie dishes for their experiences in the past, it was not possible to take into account their massive diversity. So far, the researchers have developed procedures to provide a few dozen types of neurons in the laboratory. They achieved this using genetic engineering or by adding signal particles to activate specific cellular signals. However, they have never approached the diversity of hundreds or thousands of different types of neurons that already exist.

“The neurons derived from stem cells are often used to study diseases. But so far, researchers often ignore the exact types of neurons with which they work,” says Barbara Tristlein, a professor in the Department of Science and Engineering at Eth Zurich in Basil. However, this is not the best way to such work. “If we want to develop cell culture models for diseases and disorders such as Alzheimer’s, ancient paralysis and depression, we need to take a specific type of neurons concerned in mind.”

The systematic examination was the key to success

Treutlein and her team now produced more than 400 different types of neurons. When doing this, scientists paved the way for the most accurate basic neurological research with cell culture experiments.

ETH researchers have achieved this by working with a culture of stem cells caused by human cells. In these cells, they used genetic engineering to stimulate the genes of certain neurological organizations and treat cells with different morphines, which is a special category of signal particles. Treutlein and her team followed a systematic approach, using seven morphogens in different groups and concentrations in their examination experiences. This led to nearly 200 different groups of experimental conditions.

Morphogens

Morphogens is a well -known messenger from research to fetal development. It is not distributed uniformly inside a fetus but occurs in a variety of concentrations that make up spatial patterns. In this way, they determine the location of the cells inside the fetus, for example if the cell is near the axis of the body, in the back, abdomen, head or trunk. Accordingly, Morphogens helps determine what is growing in the fetus.

The researchers used various analyzes to demonstrate that they produced more than 400 different types of neurons in their experience. They examined the RNA (and thus genetic activity) at the level of individual cells, as well as the external appearance of the cells and their functions: for example, any kind of degeneration of cells they have any quantities and any electrical nerve impulses that emit from them.

Then the researchers compared their data with information from the nerve cell databases from the human brain. By doing this, they were able to identify the types of neurons created, such as those in the peripheral nervous system or brain cells and part of the brain, whether they see pain, cold, movement, etc.

Nerve cells within the laboratory for active ingredients research

Treutlein explains that it is still far from producing all types of neurons in the laboratory. However, researchers can now reach a lot of different types of different cells than before.

They want to use neurons inside the laboratory to develop cell culture models to study serious neurological conditions, including schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson, epilepsy, sleep disturbances and multiple sclerosis. Cell culture models of this type are also of great importance in pharmaceutical research to test the effects of new active compounds in cell cultures without testing animals, with the ultimate goal of one day the ability to treat these conditions.

In the future, cells can also be used to treat cell alternatives, which involve the replacement of sick or dead neurons in the brain with new human cells.

But there is a challenge that must be overcome before this happens: the researchers often produced a mixture of different types of neurons in their experiments. They are now working to improve their way so that every experimental case produces only one type of cell. They already have some initial ideas on how to achieve this.