Grafting neurons grown from monkeys’ own cells into their brains relieved the debilitating movement and depression symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison reported today.
Su-Chun Zhang
Stem cells can repair Parkinson’s-damaged circuits in mouse brains
The mature brain is infamously bad at repairing itself following damage like that caused by trauma or strokes, or from degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s. Stem cells, which are endlessly adaptable, have offered the promise of better neural repair. But the brain’s precisely tuned complexity has stymied the development of clinical treatments.
New initiative to study Parkinson disease
Su-Chun Zhang, MD, PhD, the Steenbock Professor in Behavioral and Neural Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Waisman Center investigator, is part of an interdisciplinary team of researchers selected by the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative to receive $9 million over three years for the “Parkinson5D: Deconstructing Proximal Disease Mechanisms Across Cells, Space and Progression” or PD5D project.
May is ALS Awareness Month
May is #ALSAwarenessMonth and Waisman investigator Su-Chun Zhang, MD, PhD, uses stem cells to uncover the cause of ALS with the hope of developing treatments and therapies.
New gene editing tool driving stem cell services and discovery
A new gene editing service provides researchers on campus with genetically engineered pluripotent stem cell lines derived using CRISPR-Cas9. The UW-Madison iPSC Reprogramming and Human Stem Cell Gene Editing Service is co-operated by the Waisman …
Five questions for Su-Chun Zhang, forger of stem cells
Su-Chun Zhang, a Waisman Center investigator, was the first person in the world to craft human brain cells both from human embryonic stem (ES) cells and later from induced pluripotent (iPS) cells. In a recent interview …
Small miracle: Stem cells drive research and entrepreneurship in Madison
From five examples of human embryonic stem cells in 1998 to 1,364 different lines of stem cell cultures today, the field of stem cell research has come so far in the past 20 years. The …
Mutation in common protein triggers tangles, chaos inside brain cells
In a study published today, Waisman Center investigators Su-Chun Zhang, Albee Messing and colleagues point to new understandings of the broad range of effects that result from the GFAP mutation impacting astrocytes — important supporting …
A decade after stem cell feat, research ramps up
A decade after scientists announced the development of induced pluripotent stem cells, Waisman investigators, including Su-Chun Zhang and David Gamm, continue to use these cells to research and develop potential therapies for several disorders and conditions, such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, and macular degeneration.
Su-Chun Zhang, MD, PhD
Alexander disease patient astrocytes have impaired calcium wave propagation Legend: A) Still images over time from mechanical stimulation of 6-month astrocytes loaded with Fluor-4AM and accompanying post-experiment GFAP stains. B) Average duration of increased calcium …