Magnetized neural stem cells
Magnet helped scientists "pull" stem cells from the brain
According to the authors of the work published in the journal Angewandte Chemie (Lui et al., Neural Stem Cells Harvested from Live Brains by Antibody-Conjugated Magnetic Nanoparticles), in the future this method can be used to treat patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and multiple sclerosis.
When extracting neural stem cells (NSC), the problem arises of their safe isolation without damaging brain structures. A group of researchers led by Edman Tsang from Oxford University has developed a technique for safely obtaining these cells from the ventricles of the brain – cavities in the brain that are filled with cerebrospinal fluid.
Scientists coated special magnetic nanoparticles with antibodies that bind in the body to proteins on the membrane of NSC cells, and then injected the resulting structures into the lateral ventricles of the rat brain. Six hours later, when the nanoparticles were bound to the corresponding cells, the researchers created a magnetic field around the animals' heads in order to separate and "pull" them from the surrounding tissues. After that, the NSC cells were removed from the brain using a micro-syringe.
During the study, it was revealed that the neural stem cells obtained in this way, after being released from nanoparticles, can live in laboratory conditions, forming neurospheres (clusters), and differentiate into different types of cells. The rats successfully regained consciousness after anesthesia, without showing any negative effects from the operation.
The safe isolation of neural stem cells from a living brain is undoubtedly a scientific achievement, but some scientists believe that problems may arise with the use of this technique in humans. Moreover, according to Professor Martino, a researcher of neural stem cells from St. Raphael Hospital (Italy), there are easier ways to grow NSC cells, for example, by converting fibroblasts (skin cells) into induced stem cells with subsequent differentiation into neural stem cells (New Scientist, Neural stem cells pulled from rat's brain using magnet).
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