NYSCF Team Uses The Power of Stem Cells To Understand Brain Cell Development

NYSCF Principal Investigator Dr. Valentina Fossati and a team of NYSCF Research Institute scientists continued to unravel the mysteries of multiple sclerosis with her latest paper investigating the precise cues leading to proper development of oligodendrocytes, the brain cells affected by the disease.

Current knowledge on the processes of oligodendrocyte differentiation and maturation comes from extensive research using rodent models. This research, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, used human induced pluripotent stem cells, stem cells made from adult skin or blood samples, to show that the process of oligodendrocyte development in humans is similar to that in rodent models.

A thorough understanding of the processes leading to the generation of myelinating oligodendrocytes is important not only for multiple sclerosis, but also for a vast number of other neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Read the paper in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences