New neurons from old...

In Beating the Dementia Monster we discussed one way in which stem cells in the hippocampus can be prompted to form new neurons.  This is by generation of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor through aerobic exercise and intermittent fasting.  This, I believe, has been the mechanism by which I have, at least temporarily, stopped the progress of my disease.

But my friend Teale sent me an article from SciTechDaily about another way in which stem cells in the hippocampus can be prompted to form new neurons.  The article was based on research published in the journal, ScienceAdvances.  To me, it was very interesting and points to significant possibilities ... some day.  While the researchers were optimistic about possibilities, they are a long way from developing from this research a method for reversing a neurodegenerative disease, like Alzheimer's disease.

To us nerds, the research is a bit fascinating, although the eyes of many will glaze over when I get into it.  Especially since it doesn't seem to point to any near-term therapies.  And it was based on research using mice whose genome -- their DNA -- had been "edited."  Aside from the fact that they were not normal mice, we've said before that mice are not people.  Research that found something promising with mice very often turns out to be meaningless when applied to us humans.  So you may not want to read further.

The essence of the research was to focus on stem cells that are dormant.  Apparently, stem cells become more and more dormant as we age, and it gets harder to have them form new neurons.  What the researchers stumbled on entirely by accident is that some proteins involved in the processing of energy in the cell also help regulate the stem cells.  Part of that regulation is to dampen "neurogenesis" from the stem cells -- the formation of new neurons.  So between the edited genome and and injection of some chemicals, the researchers perturbed the chemical energy cycle in a manner that caused the proteins involved with processing energy to reduce suppression of the stem cells.  This gives us more new neurons.

If you've taken a biology class in the past 15 years, you know that the mitochondria are "the powerhouse of the cell."  (They didn't know this stuff back when Baby Boomers were in school.)  It's here that nutrients are metabolized in a couple of complex cycles to produce the chemical ATP.  The ATP is distributed throughout the cell as a form of fuel.  An intermediate product in the process is a chemical called pyruvate, and it is transported by a protein called "the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier" or MPC.  The researchers said that MPC plays an unexpected role in regulating stem cell behavior. Therefore, manipulating the energy production process will manipulate either the amount or the behavior (not sure which) of the MPC and therefore manipulate the generation of new neurons from stem cells.

Having taught cell biology some years ago these findings are fascinating.  Your mileage may vary.