Scientists researching dementia are creating human stem cells in a lab dish, which may lead to a new treatment for frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Skin cells from dementia patients were reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and can act like stem cells from early-stage embryos. Defective stem cells from a lab dish showed a signalling pathway which, when suppressed, can allow neurons damaged by the disease to develop and function normally again. Regarding the research, Professor Philip Van Damme from the Leuven Research Institute for Neuroscience and Disease in Belgium said:
“Targeting such pathways, as for instance the Wnt pathway presented in this study, may result in the creation of novel therapeutic approaches for frontotemporal dementia.”
Nearly half of dementia cases before age 60 are FTD, the inherited form of dementia. Those suffering from FTD may have mutations in the progranulin gene, causing damage to the temporal and frontal brain lobes.
Stem cell study leads to potential new dementia treatment
