Pasadena Researcher Makes ‘Game Changing Breakthrough’ in Understanding of Brain Cells

A researcher at the Huntington Medical Research Institutes in Pasadena is being credited with a significant new discovery that could help advance cell therapy treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders ranging from epilepsy to schizophrenia, the institute announced Monday.

Anju Vasudevan, who serves as Huntington Medical Research Institutes’ senior research scientist and scientific director for the angiogenesis and brain development research program, published the findings of her team in the July 13 issue of Molecular Psychiatry.

The work is “considered to be a game-changing breakthrough uncovering why cell-based therapies are failing, and providing a missing link in the process, that when the right vascular cells are paired with neuronal cells, they work together successfully for brain repair and amelioration of disease symptoms,” HMRI said in a written statement.

Scientists have long linked certain brain cells called GABAergic interneurons as important for functions including language and memory, according to HMRI. Deficits in such cells have been linked to neuropsychiatric diseases, and have been considered as a candidate for cell therapy.

“But, to date for many other neurological and psychiatric diseases, cell-based therapies have yet to reach clinical trials due to challenges that need to be overcome,” according to the HMRI statement.

In essence, Vasudevan’s team learned that in order to better facilitate healing, the cells must be introduced in concert with a second type of brain cell.

“While studying the mechanics of the cells, we discovered that these GABAergic neuronal cells must be paired with their vascular counterpart, the embryonic forebrain specific endothelial cells, for faster, effective therapy,” she said.

“Think of this new cell-based therapy as a story of unity through diversity,” Vasudevan said. “By combining the unique aspects of two different cell types, we were able to bring out the best in both.”
The work may well help pave the way for future cell-based therapies, HMRI said.

“One in four people in the world suffers from a neuropsychiatric disorder,” Vasudevan said. “That’s 450 million people. Of those, nearly 1 million people commits suicide annually. Today, as a result of the impact of the pandemic, we fear that number could increase substantially. It truly stresses the importance of our work, and the continued need to fund and advance the cell-based therapies forward.”