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This story is from the category The Brain
Date posted: 14/07/2013 Researchers from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have managed to regenerate the retina thanks to neuronal reprogramming. There are currently several lines of research that explore the possibility of tissue regeneration through cell reprogramming. One of the mechanisms being studied is reprogramming through cell fusion. The researcher Pia Cosma and her team have used the cell fusion mechanism to reprogramme the neurones in the retina. This mechanism consists of introducing bone marrow stem cells into the damaged retina. The new undifferentiated cells fuse with the retinal neurones and these acquire the ability to regenerate the tissue. For the first time we have managed to regenerate the retina and reprogramme its neurones through in vivo cell fusion. We have identified a signalling pathway that, once activated, allows the neurones to be reprogrammed through their fusion with bone marrow cells", explains Pia Cosma, head of the Reprogramming and Regeneration group at the Centre for Genomic Regulation and ICREA research professor. "This discovery is important not only because of the possible medical applications for retinal regeneration but also for the possible regeneration of other nervous tissues", says Daniela Sanges, first author of the work and postdoctoral researcher in Pia Cosma's laboratory. The study, published by the prestigious journal Cell Reports, demonstrates that the regeneration of nervous tissue by means of cell fusion is possible in mammals and describes this new technique as a potential mechanism for the regeneration of more complex nervous tissue. This research is in the very early stages but already there are laboratories interested in being able to continue the work and take it to a more applied level. See the full Story via external site: pasteur.crg.es Most recent stories in this category (The Brain): 04/02/2017: HKU scientists utilise innovative neuroimaging approach to unravel complex brain networks |
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