HIGHLIGHTS:
Scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are ready to start a
human treatment protocol that can
reverse nerve and brain damage caused by stroke, Parkinson's
disease, epilepsy and spinal cord
injuries. The treatment involves removal and regeneration of
carefully targeted brain cells, which are then
re-introduced into the patient, where growth continues and the
brain is repaired.
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS
Michel Levesque, M.D., Director, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's
Neurofunctional Surgery Center
Toomas Neuman, Ph.D., Director, Neurobiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center
LOS ANGELES (October 30, 1998) -- While growing cells in petri
dishes has been done for more
than a century, this old technique is being applied in
ground-breaking new ways, and with space-age
equipment, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Neurofunctional Surgery
Center. The goal is to produce
cures for such previously incurable conditions as spinal cord
injuries, stroke, epilepsy, and Parkinson's
disease.
The project was sparked by the recent discovery of human brain
cells' potential for regeneration,
contradicting previous scientific assumptions. "While it is true
that brain cells don't regenerate in situ, we
have found that a very small number of brain cells, harvested and
placed into a special environment, can
be stimulated to regenerate, and that regeneration continues when
the cells are re-introduced into the
brain," says Michel Levesque, M.D., Director of the Neurofunctional
Surgery Center and an
internationally known neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Toomas Neuman, Ph.D., Director of Neurobiology at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center, and Dr. Levesque
are working together to culture a number of carefully targeted
brain cells from a patient, stimulating
growth and regeneration in a carefully regulated environment, and
then re-introducing them into the
patient, where the growth continues, and effects healing and repair
to previously irreparably damaged
brain tissue.
"The implications of this are enormous. Right now we will use cell
harvesting and implantation to treat
Parkinson's disease," says Dr. Levesque. "Treating
neurodegenerative diseases involving one type of
neurotransmitter cells is comparatively straightforward -
introducing excitatory neurons or inhibitory
neurons, into a particular part of the brain. In other words, one
type of cell to one location.
"Treating stroke and spinal cord injuries with regenerated cells is
infinitely more complex," says Dr.
Levesque. We have to identify, grow, and re-introduce a complex
mixture of cells to restore a damaged
circuitry. We're working on a human protocol for spinal cord injury
now, and hope to start treating
patients with regenerated cells within the next six months."
The process literally starts with brain surgery, says Dr. Levesque.
"For epilepsy patients who require
surgery, we take a small piece of the cortex, where some of the few
brain cells capable of regeneration
are located. We remove a few of those cells, store them in our cell
bank of neurons, and freeze them
until we're ready to grow them in petri dishes.
Dr. Neuman oversees the growth stimulation part of the project.
"Right now we have to remove the cells
and put them into a special environment to stimulate them to begin
growing and dividing. Our goal is to
eventually be able to stimulate the cells without removing them
first," says Dr. Neuman. "The cells don't
spontaneously regenerate in the body -- that's why certain types of
brain injuries and illnesses are
currently incurable or irreparable.
"A variety of molecular biology tools are used to identify and
stimulate the cells," says Dr. Neuman. "We
have to keep the growing cells in sterile, biologically stable
incubators -- like baby incubators -- to
maintain a constant environment. When we're ready to grow them, we
put them into a special bath that
includes different growth factors. Without either one, the cells
don't regenerate. If you have all the
necessary things they divide and grow. If you don't have them,
these little guys die," he adds.
"The work we're doing is based on solid scientific foundations. It
began years ago, with studies
indicating that certain types of birds could produce brain cells
that would regenerate in the right
circumstances. The studies moved from birds to animals. The
progression from animal brain cell
regeneration to human brain cell regeneration is the next logical
step. When I began working with Dr.
Levesque we discovered we had a common interest -- our working
together actually stimulated the
project," says Dr. Neuman.
"When we finish developing our protocol, we'll be the first to
offer this treatment for stroke and spinal
cord injuries," says Dr. Levesque. "We have a lot of spinal cord
injury patients who are interested in this
type of treatment." The human protocol is scheduled to be completed
in six months, at which time cell
regeneration and re-introduction treatments can begin on humans.