German researchers have again enabled mice paralyzed after spinal cord injuries to regard a neural link so far as irreparable in mammals, using a design protein injected into the brain.
Spinal cord injuries in humans, often caused by sports or traffic accidents, leave them paralyzed because not all the nerve fibers that carry information between the muscles and the brain can grow back.
But researchers at the Ruhr University Bochum have succeeded in stimulating the paralyzed mice’s nerve cells to regenerate using a designer protein.
“The special thing about our study is that the protein is not only used to stimulate the nerve cells that it produces itself, but that it is also carried further (by the brain),” said team leader Dietmar Fischer. said in an interview with Reuters.
“In this way, with a relatively small intervention, we stimulate a very large number of nerves to regenerate, and that is ultimately why the mice can walk again.”
The paralyzed rodents that received the treatment started walking after two to three weeks, he said.
The treatment involves injecting carriers of genetic information into the brain to produce the protein called hyper-interleukin-6, according to the university’s website.
The team is investigating whether the treatment can be improved.
‘We also need to see if our method works on larger mammals. We would think of pigs, dogs or primates, for example, ”said Fischer.
‘Then, if it works there, we need to make sure the treatment is safe for people too. But it will definitely take many, many years. ”
