RESEARCHERS CREATE IN VITRO ALZHEIMER'S MODEL
January 25, 2012 A team of researchers led by Lawrence Goldstein of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has announced that they have successfully grown human Alzheimer's neurons in vitro. Primary fibroblasts were taken from skin cells obtained from patients having familial (inherited) or sporadic Alzheimer's disease; these were then reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells, which were in turn differentiated into functional neurons. The researchers report that while the neurons exhibit normal activity, they also possess higher-than-normal levels of certain proteins that are indicative of Alzheimer's disease.
This appears to be a significant advance in the study of Alzheimer's disease, and one that researchers hope will lead to a deeper understanding of Alzheimer's pathogenesis.
With the in vitro Alzheimer's neurons, scientists can more deeply investigate how AD begins and chart the biochemical processes that eventually destroy brain cells associated with elemental cognitive functions like memory.