Altering Huntington's Patients' Skin Cells Into Brain Cells Sheds Light On Disease (IMAGE)
Caption
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have transformed skin cells from patients with Huntington's disease into the type of brain cell affected by the disorder. The resulting mass of neurons serves as a new tool to study the degenerative and eventually fatal neurological condition, according to the researchers. Pictured are reprogrammed cells from a 71-year-old patient with Huntington's disease. Originally skin cells, these have been converted into medium spiny neurons, the cell type affected in Huntington's disease. Sampling skin cells from patients and converting them directly into neurons affected by the disorder is a new tool to help understand why nerve cells die in this fatal condition.
Credit
Matheus Victor
Usage Restrictions
None
License
Licensed content