Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative condition caused in part by the loss of a critical population of nerve cells (dopamine neurons) in the brain. One new suggested treatment approach is to transplant new and healthy dopamine neurons into the brains of affected individuals.

We are about to start trials testing this approach using human stem cell derived dopamine neurons that have been grown in the lab. Currently we do not know whether people with Parkinson’s (PwP) will develop an immune response against the transplant but, in order to deal with this possibility in these first trials, standard agents to suppress the immune system in patients will be used, in the same way as we would if they were having a kidney transplant.

In my project, I will sample the blood and spinal fluid of PwP undergoing stem cell derived dopamine transplants and use in-vitro human tissue models to try and answer this question for the first time - namely do patients mount an immune response to the transplant placed in the brain and if so, what does it look like, do our current regime of drugs suppress it and, if not, how can we improve on this.