BioCentury
ARTICLE | Targets & Mechanisms

Parkinson's Yield Sign

March 20, 2008 7:00 AM UTC

A paper by Korean researchers published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes the highest-ever yield of dopamine-producing neurons from human embryonic stem cells. But companies polled by SciBX think that stem cell yield is just one of many hurdles in using human embryonic stem cells to treat Parkinson's disease.

The hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD) is the loss of dopaminergic neurons (DA neurons) that originate in the substantia nigra and project into the striatum. Thus, marketed PD drugs either agonize dopamine receptors or introduce the neurotransmitter itself into the system. But patients inevitably become desensitized to the exogenous dopamine, and neither class of drugs modifies the underlying disease...