New biotech allows ‘seeds’ planted in the brain to differentiate into new nerve cells, reshaping its neural network

Chinese medical experts have created an ultra-efficient stem cell approach to Parkinson’s disease, raising prospects for treatment for a condition for which there is no known cure.

Parkinson’s disease is often referred to as a “movement disorder”. Its symptoms are caused by the brain failing to generate enough dopamine, due to the death or impairment of the neurons responsible for producing the chemical.

While researchers around the world are exploring stem cell therapies to replenish lost dopaminergic neurons, the team of neurology specialist Shi Jiong at the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei is leading the way.

Rotator cuff injury is a common upper extremity musculoskeletal disease that may lead to persistent pain and functional impairment. Despite the clinical outcomes of the surgical procedures being satisfactory, the repair of the rotator cuff remains problematic, such as through failure of healing, adhesion formation, and fatty infiltration. Stem cells have high proliferation, strong paracrine action, and multiple differentiation potential, which promote tendon remodeling and fibrocartilage formation and increase biomechanical strength. Additionally, stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) can increase collagen synthesi and inhibit inflammation and adhesion formation by carrying regulatory proteins and microRNAs. Therefore, stem cell-based therapy is a promising therapeutic strategy that has great potential for rotator cuff healing. In this review, we summarize the advances of stem cells and stem cell-derived EVs in rotator cuff repair and highlight the underlying mechanism of stem cells and stem cell-derived EVs and biomaterial delivery systems. Future studies need to explore stem cell therapy in combination with cellular factors, gene therapy, and novel biomaterial delivery systems.