BERLIN, January 22 – German researchers have paralyzed mice after spinal cord injury again, re-establishing neural attachment hitherto considered unstable in mammals using designer proteins introduced into the brain.
Spinal 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 the researchers from Ruhr Bochum University managed to regenerate the neural cells of paralyzed mice using designer proteins.
“What is special about our study is that the protein is not only used to stimulate those nerve cells that make it out on their own, but that it is also transported longer (through the brain ), ”Team leader Dietmar Fischer told Reuters in an interview.
“In this way, with a relatively small intervention, we stimulate a large number of nerves to regenerate and that is why the mice can walk again. ”
The paralyzed rodents who received the treatment started walking after two or three weeks, he said.
The treatment involves injecting carriers of genetic information into the brain to 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 approach works on larger mammals. We would think of pigs, dogs or primates, for example, ”said Fischer.
“Then, if it worked there, we would have to make sure that the treatment was safe for people too. But that will definitely take several years. ”- Reuters