Neural Xenotransplantation and Parkinson's Disease

Neural Xenotransplantation and Parkinson's Disease Biology 108 - Organ Replacement Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912 Advisor: Micheal J. Lysaght, Ph.D Authors: Larry Hou, Irene Klein, Billy Lau, Vanessa Rothholtz, Yvette Wild May 1999

Dopamine production is highlighted in red in the brain scan of a patient with Parkinson's disease. Scan 1 is before fetal tissue transplantation. Scan 2 & 3 show increased dopamine production after the procedure.

Parkinson's Disease Overview Parkinson’s disease is a debilitating nightmare for many Americans. The National Institutes of Health estimate
that Parkinson's disease alone affects between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 individuals in the United States, with
some 20,000 new cases each year. The disease is caused by the degeneration of brain cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. Parkinson's patients suffer from a loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, which sends prcesses into the striatum. This results in sufficient release of dopamine in the striatum onto neurons projecting to the globus pallidus or the substantia nigra. The result is loss of movement control, rigidity and telltale tremors.

Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

The first effective form of treatment was L-dopa, a synthetic substitute for dopamine. As the disease progresses, the therapeutic effects of L-dopa decrease. During the past couple of decades, researchers have been developing different forms of treatment: new drug treatments, human fetal tissue transplantation, electrode implantation, and xenogenic transplantation (the focus of our web site). There has been research into the development of xenogeneic donor tissue for neural grafting in a neurodegenerative disease like Parkinson's Disease. Fetal pig neurons have been transplanted into the human brain to replace dopminergic neurons lost in Parkinson's disease. Neural xenotransplantation has shown promising results in clinical trials but has many unresolved issues.

Objectives of This Website

The general aim of this website is to expose various issues involved in the transplant of xenogenic neuronal tissue in patients with Parkinson's disease. An examination of the historical process of neural xenograft research, a definition of xenogeneic transplant procedures, and a discussion of immunologic barriers and optimal conditions of xenogenically derived neuronal tissue are given. Additionally, ethical and safety concerns will display current controversial issues involved in a possible xenographic cure for Parkinson's disease.

Contact Information Larry Hou Irene Klein Billy Lau Vanessa Rothholtz Yvette Wild Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Diacrin Inc. and Genzyme Corporation for insights provided through email References Brown University Biology Homepage | BI108 Homepage | Back to Top