Andi
07-03-04, 04:56 PM
SCIENCE-ARGENTINA:
New Findings Even After 'Decade of the Brain'
Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Jun 23 (IPS) - The treatments for diseases like schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder and epilepsy could see improvements as a result of an important finding by an Argentine scientist: nerve cell function is not determined by genetics alone and can be altered using certain stimuli.
''If we could stimulate the cluster of poorly working neurons with an activity pattern that induces them to produce the neurotransmitter they lack, we might be able to reverse the anomalies associated with those mental disorders,'' said Laura Borodinsky, in an e-mail interview with IPS from her laboratory at the U.S. University of California, San Diego.
Head of a team of six scientists, Borodinsky, who holds a doctorate in chemistry, led the research that began in 2001 and was published this month in the British science magazine Nature as belated fruit of what was dubbed the ''decade of the brain'', organised in 1990 by the United States.
That year the U.S. government resolved to increase funding for scientific research of the brain with sights on developing treatments for mental diseases and other degenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
The challenge found a response from the global scientific community as well, even in developing countries where scientists work with meagre budgets for basic sciences -- like Argentina.
In this South American country important research was conducted on how the brain has ''replacement cells'' available, for example, and on the links between malnutrition and reduced cognitive capacity among children.
Borodinsky's study was not carried out in Argentina, but in the United States, where the chemist went to do postgraduate work in 2001.
''Like it or not, the United States has more resources for research,'' said Borodinsky, one of an estimated 5,000 Argentine scientists who are studying or working abroad.
If there are advances in the application of her discovery, which was based on tadpole embryos, it could lead to improved medical treatment for human mental or neurological diseases. Among those who could benefit are people with epilepsy, which is the only disease considered strictly neurological.
Psychotic illnesses like depression, bipolar disorder (sharp swings between euphoria and depression), and schizophrenia include cases considered strictly mental disorders, some that are believed to have neurological origins, and others that involve both, according to Borodinsky.
The latest studies on schizophrenia concur that the brain scans of patients clearly show deterioration. But it unknown whether those signs of damage are the cause or the consequence of the disease.
Borodinsky began her research by observing the behaviour of neurons in the spinal cord cells of tadpole embryos. The idea was to study the nerve cells at the moment before they communicate amongst themselves in what is called synapsis. She found that each neuron had different electrical activity patterns.
To determine whether the neurons were really capable of altering their function, in a second phase of study, she injected proteins known as potassium channels in the same embryos and observed that electrical activity was dampened. In contrast, when she injected sodium channels, the neurons were energised.
After that manipulation process, the identity of the cells had changed. ''We found that early changes -- in young neurons -- can modify the identity of those nerve cells,'' said Borodinsky.
It will be some time before the jump can be made from laboratory research on tadpole embryos to testing on humans.
Until now it was thought that the acquisition of different identities for the different types of neurons necessary for the functioning of the nervous system responded to basic genetic instructions, she explained.
But this effort proved that is not the case. In other words, there is not that level of determinism, and neurons are open to changes in their function.
''How this discovery can be extrapolated to a human adult is hard to predict. A lot of work needs to be done before that will happen,'' said the scientist. ''What we did is basic scientific investigation, but I think that when the basic mechanisms of cellular processes are understood that we are closer to understanding more complex systems.''
Borodinsky acknowledges that there are ''very few definite factors'' in the diagnosis of mental and neurological diseases. ''The nervous system remains a mystery in many aspects.''
However, in some patients with mental disorders anomalies are found in the production of neurotransmitters.
For example, in some schizophrenics, there is defective output of dopamine and serotonin, two of the neurotransmitting chemicals generated by the neurons to communicate amongst themselves, she explains.
When there is a disturbance in the production of a certain neurotransmitter, ''the synapses can be affected,'' that is, the connection between neurons, which can be associated with a neurological disorder.
Today, treatment of schizophrenia is based on psychotherapy and pharmaceuticals aimed at correcting the imbalances in neurotransmitter output. But these medications are limited to improving the patient's quality of life, not curing the disease, and they don't work in all cases, said the expert.
Borodinsky's discovery could open the door for developing medical treatments that inhibit or augment production of specific chemical signals -- depending on the illness -- and control related symptoms more effectively.
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=24340
New Findings Even After 'Decade of the Brain'
Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Jun 23 (IPS) - The treatments for diseases like schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder and epilepsy could see improvements as a result of an important finding by an Argentine scientist: nerve cell function is not determined by genetics alone and can be altered using certain stimuli.
''If we could stimulate the cluster of poorly working neurons with an activity pattern that induces them to produce the neurotransmitter they lack, we might be able to reverse the anomalies associated with those mental disorders,'' said Laura Borodinsky, in an e-mail interview with IPS from her laboratory at the U.S. University of California, San Diego.
Head of a team of six scientists, Borodinsky, who holds a doctorate in chemistry, led the research that began in 2001 and was published this month in the British science magazine Nature as belated fruit of what was dubbed the ''decade of the brain'', organised in 1990 by the United States.
That year the U.S. government resolved to increase funding for scientific research of the brain with sights on developing treatments for mental diseases and other degenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
The challenge found a response from the global scientific community as well, even in developing countries where scientists work with meagre budgets for basic sciences -- like Argentina.
In this South American country important research was conducted on how the brain has ''replacement cells'' available, for example, and on the links between malnutrition and reduced cognitive capacity among children.
Borodinsky's study was not carried out in Argentina, but in the United States, where the chemist went to do postgraduate work in 2001.
''Like it or not, the United States has more resources for research,'' said Borodinsky, one of an estimated 5,000 Argentine scientists who are studying or working abroad.
If there are advances in the application of her discovery, which was based on tadpole embryos, it could lead to improved medical treatment for human mental or neurological diseases. Among those who could benefit are people with epilepsy, which is the only disease considered strictly neurological.
Psychotic illnesses like depression, bipolar disorder (sharp swings between euphoria and depression), and schizophrenia include cases considered strictly mental disorders, some that are believed to have neurological origins, and others that involve both, according to Borodinsky.
The latest studies on schizophrenia concur that the brain scans of patients clearly show deterioration. But it unknown whether those signs of damage are the cause or the consequence of the disease.
Borodinsky began her research by observing the behaviour of neurons in the spinal cord cells of tadpole embryos. The idea was to study the nerve cells at the moment before they communicate amongst themselves in what is called synapsis. She found that each neuron had different electrical activity patterns.
To determine whether the neurons were really capable of altering their function, in a second phase of study, she injected proteins known as potassium channels in the same embryos and observed that electrical activity was dampened. In contrast, when she injected sodium channels, the neurons were energised.
After that manipulation process, the identity of the cells had changed. ''We found that early changes -- in young neurons -- can modify the identity of those nerve cells,'' said Borodinsky.
It will be some time before the jump can be made from laboratory research on tadpole embryos to testing on humans.
Until now it was thought that the acquisition of different identities for the different types of neurons necessary for the functioning of the nervous system responded to basic genetic instructions, she explained.
But this effort proved that is not the case. In other words, there is not that level of determinism, and neurons are open to changes in their function.
''How this discovery can be extrapolated to a human adult is hard to predict. A lot of work needs to be done before that will happen,'' said the scientist. ''What we did is basic scientific investigation, but I think that when the basic mechanisms of cellular processes are understood that we are closer to understanding more complex systems.''
Borodinsky acknowledges that there are ''very few definite factors'' in the diagnosis of mental and neurological diseases. ''The nervous system remains a mystery in many aspects.''
However, in some patients with mental disorders anomalies are found in the production of neurotransmitters.
For example, in some schizophrenics, there is defective output of dopamine and serotonin, two of the neurotransmitting chemicals generated by the neurons to communicate amongst themselves, she explains.
When there is a disturbance in the production of a certain neurotransmitter, ''the synapses can be affected,'' that is, the connection between neurons, which can be associated with a neurological disorder.
Today, treatment of schizophrenia is based on psychotherapy and pharmaceuticals aimed at correcting the imbalances in neurotransmitter output. But these medications are limited to improving the patient's quality of life, not curing the disease, and they don't work in all cases, said the expert.
Borodinsky's discovery could open the door for developing medical treatments that inhibit or augment production of specific chemical signals -- depending on the illness -- and control related symptoms more effectively.
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=24340