Laboratory research could one day become a hope for many neuro-psychiatric disorders: a group of scientists led byLund University (Sweden) managed to “reprogram” the glial cells, which support the brain, into other ones called parvalbumin-positive cells that are essential for maintaining calm and balanced brain activity.
What are parvalbumin-positive cells and why are they important
Parvalbumin-positive cells act as a rapid braking system of the brain and are significantly involved in schizophrenia, epilepsy and other neurological conditions.
In fact, these structures play a central role in keeping brain activity in balance, controlling nerve cell signaling, reducing hyperactivity and ensuring that the brain functions in rhythm. Researchers sometimes describe them as the cells that “make the brain sound good.”
When they do not function properly or decrease in number, the balance of the brain is altered. Previous studies suggest that damaged parvalbumin-positive cells may contribute to neuro-psychiatric disorders: to cite just one example, a work published in May 2024 in European Neuropsychopharmacology highlighted how their deficit is reported in many cases of schizophrenia.
What the researchers managed to do
Scientists have now, in fact, changed the identity of some cells by “transforming” them into others, in particular by developing a method to directly reprogram glial cells, the support cells of the brain, into parvalbumin-positive cells without going through the stem cell stage.
The work is particularly brilliant because parvalbumin cells are formed in an advanced stage of fetal brain development, and this has always made production in the laboratory, for example from stem cells, very complicated.
In our study, for the first time we managed to reprogram human glial cells into parvalbumin neurons, which resemble those naturally present in the brain – explains Daniella Rylander Ottosson, who led the study – We were also able to identify several key genes that appear to play a crucial role in the transformation
In this work the researchers did not use stem cells: a “direct” methodology was developed.
The breakthrough lies in guiding glial cells to transform into neurons in a much faster process – continues the scientist – By activating the correct genes, we force glial cells to transform into parvalbumin cells, without having to resort to stem cells. We hope that we can improve the method using the new genes we have identified
Potential applications of the new research
In the short term, this offers researchers a new way to produce cells (from patients) in the laboratory, to study the pathological mechanisms of schizophrenia and epilepsy. This will be a very important first step towards long-term goals.
The findings could in fact help in designing therapies that can replace lost or damaged brain cells directly in the brain.
The work was published on Science Advances.
Sources: Lund University / Science Advances
