Brazilian researcher advocates use of mini-brains in studies
Brazilian researcher Stevens Rehen says the use of mini-brains in Zika research could prove effective in finding drugs to treat pregnant women
The use of lab-created mini-brains for Zika research has helped confirm the connection between Zika infection and microcephaly, and could prove effective in finding new drugs to treat pregnant women. This is the opinion of Stevens Rehen, a Brazilian professor at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), researcher at D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR) and coordinator at the Ministry of Health Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPs) Biobank Project.
The link between Zika virus and microcephaly was established in a study conducted by Rehen and other researchers in Brazil and published in the US prestigious Science magazine. For Rehen, besides understanding the process leading to Zika-related microcephaly, researchers need to look for new drugs and alternatives to prevent infection and its effects on a developing nervous system.
Rehen said the mini-brains behave like “avatars” and result from skin cells transformed into cells that could develop into any kind of body tissue. “Once they have been reprogrammed, we induce these cells to change into these three-dimensional structures sized about two millimeters that can develop as if they were a two-month-old fetal brain. This opens up possibilities for understanding how human brain is formed and study diseases,” he said.
These studies, according to him, were the result of research capabilities achieved in Rio de Janeiro with government investments in the past 10 years. However, he has concerns as to whether the activities are going to continue. “There are uncertainties today about the future of research on [certain] issues. Our study [showing the connection between Zika and microcephaly] was completed within 25 days from project start to the Science article, but that's because we had everything in place,” Rehens said.
As steps to control the disease, he urged the need to combat Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are now fully adapted to urban environments, and a vaccination strategy and drugs for acute care of infected patients.
“Particularly in the case of microcephaly, we think there may be other factors involved as well. Zika is very present in poor, underserved areas, where the mothers are unlikely to have received proper antenatal care and may have nutritional deficiencies. So we still need to explore further, but this could be point we might address in preventing the disease,” Rehen said. He added that he is satisfied about the standards of the studies conducted in Brazil to investigate Zika infection and its consequences.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Brazilian researcher advocates use of mini-brains in studies
