London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Scientists take ‘important step’ in stem cell therapy to treat Parkinson’s

Scientists take ‘important step’ in stem cell therapy to treat Parkinson’s

Chinese Academy of Sciences team discovered a new technique they say improved efficacy and safety in study on mice.

Chinese researchers have discovered a new technique they say improved the efficacy and safety of stem cell therapy in mice models of Parkinson’s disease.

The team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said their study findings paved the way for potentially developing a stem cell therapy to treat the disease.

The researchers identified two cell surface markers of dopamine neurons, which are damaged or destroyed in the midbrain of someone with Parkinson’s disease.

They then injected cells with these markers into the brains of mice, which they found could significantly improve the dopamine neurons in the midbrain – a key step in the treatment of the disease.

The finding “represents a revolutionary step on the road towards more effective and safer stem cell therapies”, according to the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation on Tuesday.




Neurological disorders are the leading source of disability globally, and Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s. There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, but the symptoms can be managed with medications and other therapies.

Worldwide, some 6.1 million people had Parkinson’s disease in 2016, according to the Lancet’s Global Burden of Disease Study in 2018. That number is expected to double to more than 12 million by 2040.

In China, it is estimated that the number of Parkinson’s disease patients could rise to about 5 million by 2030, accounting for half of the world’s cases.

Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disorder affected by the impairment or death of cells in deep parts of the brain called the substantia nigra, which produces the neurotransmitter dopamine and controls body movement.

When 60 to 80 per cent of dopamine is lost, Parkinson’s symptoms such as tremor and balance problems occur.

Stem cell therapy is considered to be a promising treatment strategy because the disease is caused by the loss of one type of cell from a certain spot in the brain.

“Parkinson’s disease is the most suitable one [for stem cell therapy] because it is very clear which cells are lost and where should they be transplanted,” said Chen Yuejun, corresponding author of the study and a researcher with the CAS.

However, previous studies have generated both target and off-target neuronal cells during transplantation, resulting in low efficacy and uncertainty around safety.

“Our study wanted to answer two questions – why the previous studies generated more than a dozen off-target cells, and how we could enrich [certain] cells,” said Chen, who heads the Laboratory of Neural Differentiation and Regeneration at the CAS.

Stem cell therapy is seen as a promising strategy to treat Parkinson’s disease.


Chen and the team did a single-cell sequencing of dopaminergic neurons and found that the off-target cells were generated in areas near the midbrain.

They also found two markers that could facilitate highly enriched dopaminergic neurons after transplantation.

The percentage of neurons could be as high as 80 per cent in the transplant area, according to the paper. That compares to about 10 per cent in two recent preclinical studies.

“The study established a method for obtaining highly purified donor cells that can be transplanted with stable and predictable cell therapy results,” the authors said in a statement on the CAS website.

“It is an important step towards more effective and safer cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×