TOMSK, Oct
20 – RIA Tomsk. Scientists of TSU together with colleagues from Belgium and the
United States created a tool to track young neurons in the brain; the
development cannot be applied to humans, but it allows to evaluate in
laboratory animals how the brain recovers after a stroke, this will help create
new methods of treating people, the university's website said.
It is
specified that the tool was created with the support of the Russian Science
Foundation (RSF). With reference to the head of the laboratory of neurobiology
of the Biological Institute of Tomsk State University, Marina Khodanovich, it
is explained that after a stroke, young neurons are produced in special zones
of neurogenesis: they migrate to the affected area to replace the dead. Previously,
there were no methods to track these cells in a living brain.
"Neuroscientists
created a non-invasive tool that can track the movement of young neurons. For
this, scientists mark new brain cells with a special marker that can be seen on
MRI. Viral vectors – inactivated viruses that can easily enter the cell, act as
"couriers for delivery", – says the message.
According
to the press service, in addition to TSU scientists, specialists from
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) – Irina Thiry and Veronique Daniels
are participating in the project. The researchers tested the created tool on
rats: they simulated ischemic cerebral stroke in laboratory animals, introduced
a genetic tag and tracked the process of neurogenesis.
"The
brains of rats were scanned in Novosibirsk on the most powerful high-field
magnetic resonance imager in Russia, designed for research on small laboratory
animals. Within the framework of the experiment the condition of 40 stroke
survivors animals was assessed. The experiment showed the effectiveness of the
created instrument", – the report said.
According
to Khodanovich, the method cannot be used on humans, since it requires an
increase in the ferritin content, and this affects cell metabolism. But the new
approach makes it possible to trace in animals how the brain recovers from
stroke, injury and other diseases, which will help create new therapies and
predict brain recovery after severe disorders.