Stem cell research conducted at the University of Michigan is showing new promise in unlocking the biological secrets that make up bipolar disorder.
By taking stem cell lines from the skin of bipolar adults, scientists will be able to uncover new findings from the cell donors, who are participating in the study.
According to Melvin McInnis, Professor of Bipolar Disorder and Depression at the U-M Medical School and associate director the U-M Depression Center, the new research could lead to treatments that are more effective.
“Currently the best treatments for bipolar disorder are only effective for 30 percent to 50 percent of patients. New discoveries have been limited, in part due to the lack of access to tissue and cells from individuals with bipolar disorder. But that is now changing because of the Prechter research program and advances in stem cell research,” McInnis said, as quoted by www.uofmhealth.org.
The new stem cell lines were created out of fibroblasts taken from skin samples from both adults with bipolar disorder and without the disorder. In the lab, scientists manipulate these cells to develop into different types of body cells.
Sue O’Shea, Ph.D., a professor of cell and developmental biology at the Medical School, says the goal is to develop 30 cell lines. So far, five have been created.
