Neural stem cells harvested from live brains by antibody-conjugated magnetic nanoparticles.

It stems from the magnetism: The extraction of stem/progenitor cells from the brain of live animals is possible using antibodies conjugated to magnetic nanoparticles (Ab-MNPs). The Ab-MNPs are introduced to a rat's brain with a superfine micro-syringe. The stem cells attach to the Ab-MNPs and are magnetically isolated and removed. They can develop into neurospheres and differentiate into different types of cells outside the subject body. The rat remains alive and healthy.

Ceftriaxone ameliorates motor deficits and protects dopaminergic neurons in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats.

Parkinson's disease is caused by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra. There is no current promising treatment for neuroprotection of dopaminergic neurons. Ceftriaxone is a beta-lactam antibiotic and has been reported to offer neuroprotective effects (Rothstein, J.-D., Patel, S., Regan, M.-R., Haenggeli, C., Huang, Y.-H., Bergles, D.-E., Jin, L., Dykes, H.-M., Vidensky, S., Chung, D.-S., Toan, S.-V., Bruijn, L.-I., Su, Z.-Z., Gupta, P., and Fisher, P.-B. (2005) Beta-lactam antibiotics offer neuroprotection by increasing glutamate transporter expression Nature433, 73-77). In the present study, efficacy of ceftriaxone in neuroprotection of dopaminergic neurons and amelioration of motor deficits in a rat model of Parkinson's disease were investigated. Ceftriaxone was administrated in 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats. Using behavioral tests, grip strength and numbers of apomorphine-induced contralateral rotation were declined in the ceftriaxone-treated group. More importantly, cell death of dopaminergic neurons was found to decrease. In addition, both the protein expression and immunoreactivity for GLT-1 were up-regulated. The present results strongly indicate that ceftriaxone is a potential agent in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.