Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Neural stem cell for cognitive improvement of Alzheimer's disease

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 (Bernama) – The transplantation of NSI-532.IGF1 – a proprietary human neural stem cell (NSC) line – can mitigate disease pathology and improves cognition in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to Scientific Reports.
NSI-532.IGF1 is developed by Neuralstem, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel treatments for nervous system diseases.
The NSC transplantation is following a study conducted at the University of Michigan, led by Dr. Eva Feldman, Director of the Program for Neurology Research and Discovery and Research Director of the University of Michigan ALS Center of Excellence, a statement said.
Dr. Feldman’s team grafted the neural stem cell line into APP/PS1 mice that carried genes bearing mutations associated with onset of AD in humans.
During the study, the animals had improved cognitive performance relative to control animals in two memory tasks that are dependent on hippocampal function. The transplantation also led to decrease in Aβ plaque pathology relative to controls.
Chief Scientific Officer at Neuralstem, Karl Johe said NSI-532.IGF1 is a second-generation cell therapy candidate, engineered to combine neural stem cells with a neuroprotective protein, IGF-1, thereby targeting neurodegenerative conditions like AD.
He added the preclinical study suggests that the combined properties of neural stem cells and IGF-1 may mitigate the pathology and cognitive deficits associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
“We are encouraged by the results we have seen with human neural stem cells in this established animal model and look forward to continuing this collaboration with Neuralstem,” said Dr. Feldman.

-- BERNAMA

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