A DIRECT HIT TO PARKINSON'S?

摘要

For the victims of brain diseases, the golden hope is that scientists will figure out how to make damaged cells deep inside the brain regenerate. If this magic capability could be extended to the frayed neurons of patients suffering from Alzheimer's, stroke, Lou Gehrig's disease, or Parkinson's, their brains might restore themselves, much like skin that heals after a cut. For Parkinson's sufferers, this dream may be moving toward reality thanks to the revival of a drug written off as a failure just three years ago. A clinical trial at the University of Kentucky is currently treating 10 Parkinson's patients with a bioengineered protein, called GDNF, using a radical new drug-delivery method that sends it deep into the part of the brain where Parkinson's originates. There, a constant supply is administered by a pump implanted in the chest. So far, GDNF seems both to shield healthy brain cells from the disease and cause damaged cells to regenerate.