Human skin cells turned directly into motor neurons

Scientists have converted skin cells from healthy adults directly into motor neurons without going through a stem cell state. The technique developed by researchers at Washington University in the US makes it possible to study motor neurons of the human central nervous system in the lab. Scientists working to develop new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases have been stymied by the inability to grow human motor neurons in the lab.

Motor neurons drive muscle contractions, and their damage underlies devastating diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy, both of which ultimately lead to paralysis and early death. Avoiding the stem cell phase eliminates ethical concerns raised when producing what are called pluripotent stem cells, which are similar to embryonic stem cells in their ability to become all adult cell types, researchers said.

Bypassing a stem cell state allows the resulting motor neurons to retain the age of the original skin cells and, therefore, the age of the patient. Maintaining the chronological age of these cells is vital when studying neurodegenerative diseases that develop in people at different ages and worsen over decades. “In this study, we only used skin cells from healthy adults ranging in age from early 20s to …read more