Bone Marrow Transplant Stops Mouse Version of OCD
Nobel laureate Mario Capecchi's University of Utah research group has reversed a behavioral disorder in mice with a bone marrow transplant, establishing a link between immune cells and psychiatric disorders. Steve Mirsky reports
SUBSCRIBE TO Science Quickly
A strain of mutant mice groom compulsively til they seriously injure themselves. The condition is considered a good animal model for OCD, and it’s similar to the human disorder trichotillomania, where people pull out their own hair. Now researchers have successfully treated this pathological behavior in the mice—with a bone marrow transplant. The work, led by Nobel Laureate Mario Capecchi, was published in the journal Cell. [http://bit.ly/a4znGN]
The mouse condition is related to immune system cells called microglia. These cells originate in the bone marrow and wind up in the brain, where their job is to fight off infections. But a genetic mutation leads to defective microglia, which drive the mice to perform the odd, self-mutilating behavior.
The researchers gave 10 mutant mice bone marrow from healthy mice. And the presence of normal microglia stopped the compulsion. It’s compelling evidence for the long-proposed link between the immune system and certain psychiatric disorders.
Capecchi warns that bone marrow transplants are too risky to be commonly used against, for example, OCD. Rather, a fuller understanding of the immune system-mental illness connection should produce new treatments.
—Steve Mirsky
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
For a profile of Mario Capecchi, go to http://bit.ly/9SEy4M
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
