Nerve cells made from skin cells bring new insights into Parkinson's

8 February 2012

For the first time, researchers in the US have used nerve cells made from skin cells to understand the role of the parkin gene in Parkinson's.

The research, led by scientists at the State University of New York, was published today in the journal Nature Communications

Michelle Gardner, our research development manager, was quoted in the BBC News article: Genetic Parkinson's disease brain cells made in labs.

What the researchers did

The team made induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, from skin samples taken from people with a rare, inherited form of Parkinson's caused by changes in the parkin gene.

Then they transformed these stem cells into dopamine-producing nerve cells - the type of cells that get sick and die in Parkinson's.

They found that changes in the parkin gene affected the way the nerve cells handled dopamine. The Parkinson's cells also showed increased stress caused by the build-up of damaging molecules.

These differences were reversed when the Parkinson's cells were given a copy of the normal parkin gene. This means the cells have great potential as a tool to test drugs that could have a similar effect.

A window into the Parkinson's brain

Until recently, it was impossible to study human nerve cells in the laboratory. Now, nerve cells grown in a dish allow scientists to see what happens inside the Parkinson's brain.

Last year, Parkinson's UK-funded researchers at the University of Edinburgh made nerve cells from a person with another form of inherited Parkinson's.

Towards new and better treatments

Dr Michelle Gardner, our research development manager, comments:

"New stem cell technology which allows nerve cells to be made from adult skin cells is opening doors for research into Parkinson's.

"This study is particularly exciting because it describes for the first time how researchers have successfully generated nerve cells from people with a rare genetic form of Parkinson's, linked to the parkin gene.

"Parkinson's UK-funded research has already shown that parkin plays a key role in how Parkinson's develops in the brain nerve cells that die.

"This research showed how the parkin gene was involved in controlling the cell's use of dopamine and how this function is impaired in dopamine nerve cells with the disrupted form of the gene associated with Parkinson's.

"The researchers also showed how introducing a correct copy of the gene into the nerve cells restored these functions, highlighting this route as a potential model for testing new and better treatments."

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