Converting Skin Cells To Brain Cells With Cellular Reprogramming Shows Hope For MS Patients

New hope for people living with so-called myelin disorders such as multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy comes out of Cleveland, Ohio where researchers there report developing a breakthrough technique that directly converts regular skin cells into the type of brain cells destroyed by the myelin disorders.

The news comes from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, where professor of genetics and genome studies Paul Tesar says his team as accomplished "cellular alchemy."

"We are taking a readily accessible and abundant cell and completely switching its identity to become a highly valuable cell for therapy," said Tesar, the study's lead author.

In  multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and rare genetic disorders called leukodystrophies, vital cells that deliver brain impulses to the rest of the body are destroyed and cannot be replaced.

Tesar and his colleagues' research will enable the "on demand" production of these myelinating cells.

Using a technique called "cellular reprogramming" the researchers took skin cells and converted them to oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, or OPCs.

Until now, the researchers say, the OPC could only be obtained from fetal tissue or stem cells, which are in limited supply compared to ordinary skin cells.

 "The new technique may overcome all of these issues by providing a rapid and streamlined way to directly generate functional myelin producing cells," said co-author and myelin expert Robert Miller, a professor of neurosciences at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, according to a press statement.

The results of the study are published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.