A collaborative study led by Professor Vittoria Raffa at the University of Pisa and Assistant Professor Fabian Raudzus (Department of Clinical Application) has unveiled a novel approach that uses magnetically guided mechanical forces to direct axonal growth, aiming to enhance the effectiveness of stem cell-based therapies for Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other neurological conditions.

Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN), which project to the striatum (ST) via the nigrostriatal pathway. The loss of these connections leads to dopamine deficiency and the onset of motor symptoms.

While cell replacement therapies using human stem cell-derived dopaminergic progenitors have shown encouraging results in clinical trials, a key limitation remains: the inability to guide the axons of transplanted cells over long distances to their appropriate targets in the adult brain.