title: Activation of neurotransplants in humans.
abstract: Clinical studies report symptomatic benefit in most fetal neurotransplantation treated Parkinson's disease patients. The underlying mechanism is incompletely explained. We investigated whether neural connections between host and transplanted tissue are established. Two Parkinson's disease patients with clinically excellent outcome after transplantation were studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging. A repetitive motor task that provided robust stimulation in the contralateral putamen in volunteers activated graft bearing regions of putamen in patients. In response to contralateral motor tasks, activation was recorded consistently in left putamen in patient 1 and in right putamen in patient 2. Functional magnetic resonance imaging suggests that neuronal rewiring contributes to the functioning of neurotransplants in vivo in humans.
authors.affiliation: Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Pasadena, California 91105, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blüml
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kopyov
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacques
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016380:Brain Tissue Transplantation; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D017690:Cell Transplantation; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery; D016332:Fetal Tissue Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011699:Putamen / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000601:surgery*; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery