Reposted from cryonet:
Subject: Human Brain Transplantation Protocol
source: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Posted 10/31/98
Human Brain Transplantation Protocol
Approved To Reverse Nerve And Brain
Damage
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.