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Scientists have identified a never - before - seen eccentric of jail cell that may help to heal brainpower damage — at least in mice .
The researchers discovered a unique form of astrocyte , astar - shaped cellthat supportscommunication between brain jail cell , or neuron , and maintain them salubrious by stabilise the learning ability ’s protective barrier and regulating nerve cell ' balance of charged particles and signalling particle .
The new study changes our understanding of the role of supportive cells known as astrocytes in the brain.
In the brain , astrocytes either live ingray matter , which moderate the master part of neuron that holds DNA and enables the cells to process information , orwhite matter — the insulate wire that extend from some neurons . researcher havelong - studiedthe role ofgray - matter astrocytes , but until now , less was known about their lily-white - matter twin .
In the new study , published Monday ( Feb. 24 ) in the journalNature Neuroscience , scientists determine the function of whitened - issue astrocytes in tissue samples from the brain of mouse . They did this by analyze the activity of the cistron these cadre verbalize , or " change on . "
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A high-resolution microscope image of proliferative astrocytes (shown in green and white) in the white matter region of a mouse brain.
The research worker place two distinct types of blanched - affair astrocytes . The first performed the function of a " housekeeper , " which physically corroborate brass fibers and aid neurons in communicating with one another . Meanwhile , the second type perform a function that was antecedently unheard of for an astrocyte in the white matter — it had a unparalleled power to proliferate , thus make newfangled astrocytes .
" That is a really important finding because that was n’t have a go at it before , " subject area cobalt - authorJudith Fischer - Sternjak , the deputy director of the Institute of Stem Cell Research at Helmholtz Munich in Germany , told Live Science .
The researchers also find that some of these special , proliferative astrocyte were able-bodied to move from white topic to grey subject regions of the mouse ’s Einstein . This finding suggests that these cells may play as a man-made lake for fresh astrocytes .
If similar astrocyte are discovered inthe human brain , the inquiry could potentially lead to the development of new therapy to repair the brain after accidental injury or damage , such as that triggered by neurodegenerative disease likemultiple sclerosis , the source advise . For instance , scientist could theoretically con to manipulate astrocytes so they ’re more likely to proliferate and replace defective or mixed-up cells , Fischer - Sternjak say .
In the cogitation , the investigator also looked at human psyche tissue samples , which were extracted during the autopsies of 13 organ donors . While the squad did identify white - issue astrocytes within these sample , these cells only expressed genes demand in housekeeping functions , rather than proliferation .
It ’s possible that the human nous sample did n’t contain these singular proliferating astrocytes because they were collected exclusively from older patients , and the mouse experiments render that proliferative astrocytes appear to refuse in number with age , Fischer - Sternjak said .
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With a wider range of human sample — especially from younger mass — it ’s potential that these cells could still be discovered , Fischer - Sternjak say .
Going forward , the researchers hope to acquire more about how bloodless - matter astrocytes contribute to overall learning ability health in humans . Only then can scientists realize how astrocyte respond to harm and how they might change with disease and aging , Fischer - Sternjak articulate .
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