Mature-looking astrocytes collected after 150 days absorb the chemical messenger glutamate, which excites neurons. The longer the spheres grow, the more mature the astrocytes become, eventually developing the branching arms that give them their stellar look. The first cells with astrocyte-like properties emerge after 50 days, the researchers found. Starting at 40 days in culture, they broke the spheres apart with an enzyme and then poured the cells into culture dishes coated with antibodies that stick to astrocytes. They cultured the cells in chemicals that coax the cells to cluster and transform into neurons, astrocytes and other brain cells. To create the spheres, the researchers derived stem cells from skin cells. The combination approach allows researchers to keep astrocytes in culture for up to 20 months.Ĭulturing the cells in spheres mimics the 3-D architecture of the brain, allowing the astrocytes to mature more fully than other methods do. One transforms skin cells into floating spheres of brain cells, including astrocytes the other separates astrocytes from other brain cells. In the new study, researchers combined two existing techniques. But it is difficult to culture astrocytes long enough for the cells to fully mature. Scientists can derive stem cells from a person’s skin cells and transform them into astrocytes. They deliver nutrients to neurons and help construct and prune neuronal connections, called synapses. Researchers could use the method to explore the role of these star-shaped support cells in autism.Īstrocytes are the most abundant cells in the brain. Autism research - and science in general - is constantly evolving, so older articles may contain information or theories that have been reevaluated since their original publication date.Ī new two-step technique allows researchers to generate brain cells called astrocytes and maintain them in culture as they mature 1. This article is more than five years old.
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