Spinal cord regeneration possibility?
We’re dancing with joy! This month in the journal, Science, Northwestern University (NU) researchers announced a major breakthrough: they have harnessed “dancing molecules” to reverse paralysis and repair tissue after severe spinal cord injuries.
This is huge because…for decades, scientists have been stonewalled by the body’s central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord, since it has no ability to repair itself after injuries or the onset of degenerative diseases. Treatment options have been disappointing at best. Until now.
Without getting too technical, the NU team developed an injectable liquid containing modified peptides, which form nanofibers similar to the spinal cord’s extracellular matrix. Testing procedures used spinal cord injury mouse models, which were given a single injection of the therapy. The results? The dancing molecules promoted axon regrowth that restored walking ability. Video link
While “dancing molecules” may not sound very scientific, they are key to the therapy’s success. By mutating two peptide sequences, one that reduces scarring and the other that promotes blood vessel formation, the molecules ‘dance’ or temporarily leap out of these structures in such a way that promotes regeneration.
Northwestern’s Samuel I. Stupp, Ph.D., who led the study, said that FDA approval process for use in human patients would be started and that their technique could be applied to other disorders including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Like we said: This. Is. Huge.