Neural stem cells and brain repair

Diseases leading to brain damage and loss of brain function are predominantly affecting the elderly. These patients often suffer from additional diseases (so called comorbidities) such as hypertension, diabetes or depression that require continuous treatment with a broad spectrum of drugs. It is known that there are drug-drug interactions that can be beneficial or dangerous. However, almost nothing is known about potential drug- Neural stem cells (NSC) interactions that may affect the effectivity and safety of future NSC-based therapies for brain repair. Indirect preliminary evidence from previous research studies indeed indicates that many of those interactions exists. The Medical and Life Sciences Research Fund has supported Dr Nadine Didwischus working in the Neurosciences division of the Warwick School of Life Sciences. She leads this project and intends to establish a robust cell culture test system by which drug-NSC interactions can be identified and described. The team will test a small number of selected, frequently applied drugs to treat comorbidities in the elderly and assess their impact on key NSC functions: to proliferate and to give rise to new brain cells. They will also investigate how different drug concentrations affect these functions.