Researchers testing drugs to grow new brain cells
Ten years ago, neurobiologist Fred H. Gage of the Salk Institute in San Diego rocked the scientific world with a paper that said that the number of adult brain cells is not fixed at birth, as was commonly believed, but that brain cells could, in fact, regenerate. Now a company that Gage co-founded is ready to test that concept in the real world.
According to a report published this week in MIT's Technology Review, the San Diego company BrainCells Inc. has begun phase-two testing of a compound that is aimed at treating depression and anxiety by promoting neurogenesis -- the growth of new neurons -- in the brain. If successful, the drug would be an alternative to antidepressants that work by increasing levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain.
"The fact that you might be able to take small molecules to stimulate specific cells to regenerate the brain is paradigm-shifting," Mayo Clinic neuroscientist Christopher Eckman told Technology Review. "[This approach] takes advantage of the body's innate ability to correct itself when given appropriate cues."
The article notes that some researchers are skeptical that depression can be treated by way of neurogenesis. BrainCells, however, intends to look for neurogenic compounds that can be targeted to the treatment of other brain disorders, such as psychoses, cognitive and memory disorders and other diseases of the central nervous system. To be sure, the research is in early stages. But BrainCells is one to watch.
-Shari Roan
Image: J.W. Burkey / Tony Stone Images
