Researchers make key improvements to Parkinson’s disease cell therapies

Cell therapy holds promise as a new treatment for Parkinson’s disease but, in many trials to date, most transplanted dopamine cells have failed to survive, raising a fundamental obstacle. Recent advancements led by researchers at Mass General Brigham could change this. Investigators used regulatory T cells to supplement neuronal cell therapy and decrease adverse effects of the surgical procedure in rodent models. Results from the team, which includes investigators from McLean Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, are published in Nature.