脑细胞再生的里程碑:支持细胞形成神经细胞

Milestone in the regeneration of brain cells: Supportive cells generate new nerve cells
脑细胞再生的里程碑:支持细胞形成神经细胞
Neuherberg, 20 August. The research group of Prof. Dr. Magdalena G鰐z at the Institute of Stem Cell Research of the GSF – National Research Centre for Environment and Health, and the Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, has achieved an additional step for the potential replacement of damaged brain cells after injury or disease: functional nerve cells can be generated from astroglia, a type of supportive cells in the brain by means of special regulator proteins.
德国国家环境与健康研究中心（GSF）干细胞研究所和慕尼黑大学Magdalena G鰐z教授领衔的研究小组在因受伤或疾病造成的受损脑细胞的可能替代治疗方面取得进展：应用特殊的调节蛋白，可使星形胶质细胞（脑内的一种支持细胞）形成功能性神经细胞。
The majority of cells in the human brain are not nerve cells but star-shaped glia cells, the so called “astroglia”. “Glia means “glue”, explains G鰐z. “As befits their name, until now these cells have been regarded merely as a kind of “putty” keeping the nerve cells together.
人脑大部分细胞并非神经细胞，而是星状胶质细胞。正如其名字所言，迄今认为这些细胞仅仅作为“灰泥”使神经细胞聚合在一起。
A couple of years ago, the research group had been already able to prove that these glia cells function as stem cells during development. This means that they are able to differentiate into functional nerve cells. However, this ability gets lost in later phases of development, so that even after an injury to the adult brain glial cells are unable to generate any more nerve cells.
两年前，该研究小组已经证实这些胶质细胞在发育过程中具有干细胞功能，即意味着它们可分化为功能性神经细胞。但在发育后期丧失了这一能力，从而即使受伤后，成人大脑胶质细胞也不能形成再多的神经细胞。
In order to be able to reverse this development, the team studied what molecular switches are essential for the creation of nerve cells from glial cells during development. These regulator proteins are introduced into glial cells from the postnatal brain, which indeed respond by switching on the expression of neuronal proteins.
为了能够逆转这一发育过程，该研究小组对发育过程中胶质细胞形成神经细胞所必需的调节分子进行了研究。将新生大脑中的这些调节蛋白加入胶质细胞，确实可开启神经蛋白的表达。
In his current work, Dr. Benedikt Berninger, was now able to show that single regulator proteins are quite sufficient to generate new functional nerve cells from glia cells. The transition from glia-to-neuron could be followed live at a time-lapse microscope. It was shown that glia cells need some days for the reprogramming until they take the normal shape of a nerve cell. “These new nerve cells then have also the typical electrical properties of normal nerve cells”, emphasises Berninger. “We could show this by means of electrical recordings”.
在本研究中，Benedikt Berninger博士可展示单一调节蛋白足以使胶质细胞形成新的功能性神经细胞。这一从胶质细胞到神经细胞的转变过程可在定时显微镜下时实跟踪。结果表明，胶质细胞在呈现一般的神经细胞形状之前，需要几天的程序调整时间。“这些新生神经细胞此时也具有一般神经细胞典型的电生理特性，我们可通过电生理记录仪展示这一特性。” Berninger强调说。
“Our results are very encouraging, because the generation of correctly functional nerve cells from postnatal glia cells is an important step on the way to be able to replace functional nerve cells also after injuries in the brain,” underlines Magdalena G鰐z.
“我们的研究结果令人鼓舞。因为从新生胶质细胞形成正确的功能神经细胞，对于受伤大脑功能性神经细胞的替代治疗是非常重要的一步。” Magdalena G鰐z强调说。

编译：

脑细胞再生的里程碑:支持细胞形成神经细胞

德国科学家8月20日宣布，应用特殊的调节蛋白，可使大脑星形胶质细胞形成为功能性神经细胞，从而在因受伤或疾病造成的受损脑细胞的替代治疗方面取得重要进展。

由国家环境与健康研究中心干细胞研究所和慕尼黑大学Magdalena G鰐z教授领衔的研究小组发现，应用单一调节蛋白即可使胶质细胞形成新的功能性神经细胞。通过在定时显微镜下对这一转变过程进行时实观察，他们发现胶质细胞在呈现一般的神经细胞形状之前，需要几天的程序调整时间，而新生的神经细胞还具有一般神经细胞典型的电生理特性。

两年前，该研究小组已经证实胶质细胞在发育过程中具有干细胞功能，即意味着它们可分化为功能性神经细胞，但在发育后期胶质细胞丧失了这一功能。为了能够逆转这一发育过程，该研究小组对发育过程中胶质细胞形成神经细胞所必需的调节分子进行了研究。他们将新生大脑中的这些调节蛋白加入胶质细胞，证实调节蛋白确实可开启神经蛋白的表达。