BioCentury
ARTICLE | Targets & Mechanisms

Reining in pain

June 21, 2012 7:00 AM UTC

University of California, San Francisco researchers have shown that neuronal precursor cells from fetal mouse brains can be transplanted into the spinal cord of adult mice to treat neuropathic pain.1 The embryonic brain cells are being developed by Neurona Therapeutics Inc., a company founded by several of the San Francisco team members.

The precursor cells come from the medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) region of the embryonic brain. During development MGE cells migrate to distant areas of the brain, form synapses with nearby neurons and mature into g-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-producing inhibitory neurons, called GABAergic interneurons...