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Replacing half a mouse’s brain with human glial cells, the cells that support neurons with a protective substance called myelin, doesn’t mean the mice are any more human, per se. Rather, researchers hope the advance will build on prior work that lets them understand more about diseases of the brain. Though cell cultures offer a certain degree of insight, the chance to see disease play out in more sophisticated models still reigns supreme.
Goldman and his team of colleagues initially incorporated 300,000 premature glial cells from donated human fetuses into the brains of ordinary lab mice. Within a year, the inaugural batch had multiplied to some 12 million cells, totally replacing the mice’s former cells. The replacement yielded massive changes to the animals’ cognitive output. With 100 times as many tendrils between synapses — the bridges between neurons — as the control mice, the humanized mice froze four times longer in response to a conditioned sound. Greater cognition made for stronger memory.
Human astrocytes, for example, a type of glial cell, are 10 to 20 times larger than mouse glial cells. They can communicate signals far more quickly, Goldman says. “It's like ramping up the power of your computer.”
The Pinky and Brain scenario will not happen. The mice only do quite a bit better on the maze and other mouse tests
The Journal of Neuroscience - A Competitive Advantage by Neonatally Engrafted Human Glial Progenitors Yields Mice Whose Brains Are Chimeric for Human Glia
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Reposted via Next Big Future
Replacing half a mouse’s brain with human glial cells, the cells that support neurons with a protective substance called myelin, doesn’t mean the mice are any more human, per se. Rather, researchers hope the advance will build on prior work that lets them understand more about diseases of the brain. Though cell cultures offer a certain degree of insight, the chance to see disease play out in more sophisticated models still reigns supreme.
Goldman and his team of colleagues initially incorporated 300,000 premature glial cells from donated human fetuses into the brains of ordinary lab mice. Within a year, the inaugural batch had multiplied to some 12 million cells, totally replacing the mice’s former cells. The replacement yielded massive changes to the animals’ cognitive output. With 100 times as many tendrils between synapses — the bridges between neurons — as the control mice, the humanized mice froze four times longer in response to a conditioned sound. Greater cognition made for stronger memory.
Human astrocytes, for example, a type of glial cell, are 10 to 20 times larger than mouse glial cells. They can communicate signals far more quickly, Goldman says. “It's like ramping up the power of your computer.”
The Pinky and Brain scenario will not happen. The mice only do quite a bit better on the maze and other mouse tests
The Journal of Neuroscience - A Competitive Advantage by Neonatally Engrafted Human Glial Progenitors Yields Mice Whose Brains Are Chimeric for Human Glia
Read more »
Reposted via Next Big Future
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