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Scientists grow human serotonin neurons in petri dish
Serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in regulating mood and mental states, has been linked to numerous neurological and mental illnesses, including depression. But because there has been no way to obtain live human serotonin neurons to study these diseases, most serotonin research has been done on lab animals.
Now, University at Buffalo researchers have generated human serotonin neurons from human fibroblasts, the cells that give rise to connective tissue in the body.
The researchers say that their findings are applicable to generating many other previously inaccessible human cell types, providing a boon to medical research and drug discovery.
"Our work demonstrates that the precious serotonin neurons hidden deep inside the human brain can now be created in a petri dish," said lead author Jian Feng, PhD, professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Feng also has an appointment at the Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System in Buffalo.
The paper was published online on July 28. A future issue of the print journal will feature an image from the UB research on the cover. The work builds on previous studies showing that human fibroblasts can be converted to neurons, using specialized transcription factors that bind to genes, turning them on or off.
Generating serotonin neurons
The UB research demonstrates the first direct conversion of human fibroblasts into serotonergic neurons, Feng said. These "induced serotonergic neurons" behave like serotonin neurons in the human brain.
"We know the cells were converted to serotonergic neurons because they express proteins that are only found in neurons that produce serotonin," Feng explained. "They are electrophysiologically active and demonstrate both the controlled release and the selective uptake of serotonin."
The researchers found that they could produce induced serotonergic neurons from fibroblasts by introducing four genes that control the development of serotonin neurons. "These genes change how the human genome, which is like a computer hard drive, is read, so that the cell switches from a lung cell to a serotonin neuron," said Feng.
"With this new technology, scientists can generate serotonin neurons from patients who suffer from serotonin-related mental illnesses," said Feng.
While the paper focuses on converting lung fibroblasts to serotonin neurons, Feng's group at UB also has been working on generating serotonin neurons from human skin cells, which would be an even easier and less invasive process.
A versatile technology
Such induced serotonin neurons would be extremely beneficial since they can be generated from individual patients suffering from illnesses involving the neurotransmitter.
"These patient-specific serotonin neurons will be very useful to the discovery of new drugs for diseases ranging from depression and anxiety to obsessive-compulsive disorder and many others," said Feng. "They will not only allow researchers to study why certain individuals develop a disease but also to find out what can be done to treat it."
Feng is optimistic that the same technology is versatile enough that it can be used to generate other new cells and tissues: "This research shows that it is possible to convert one type of cell into other types that have been difficult to access, such as neurons or heart cells," he said. "All we need to do is find out the combination of transcription factors that is necessary. Sooner or later, we will find out what those combinations are so that we can regenerate cells and eventually tissues that will mimic the real cells and tissues in the body."
More information: "Direct conversion of human fibroblasts to induced serotonergic neurons." Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication 28 July 2015; DOI: 10.1038/mp.2015.101
Journal reference: Molecular Psychiatry
Provided by: University at Buffalo
Source: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-08-scientists-human-serotonin-neurons-petri.html
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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