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Content archived on 2024-05-14

Cellular and molecular requirements for growth of sensory axons into the spinal cord

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Curing injury-induced sensory loss

The spinal cord is the major part of the central nervous system, which conducts sensory and motor nerve impulses to and from the brain. Damage to the spinal cord is difficult to heal, since affected nerves in this tissue are impossible to repair. Challenged by this, a new and promising research activity focuses on resolving the problem of the spinal cord's nerve regeneration, increasing the patients' expectations for recovery.

Within the human body, millions of cells with varied functionality exist. The spinal cord works as an information network with the nerves branching off to various parts of the body for transferring sensory and motor signals. The nervous tissue mass in the spinal cord consists of nerve fibres and nerve cells. One characteristic difference between these nerves and most tissue cells is that they are unable to regenerate when injured. This greatly affects the functionality of motor and sensory systems, causing patients to suffer lifelong from disabilities. Concentrating on the injuries of the nerve fibres, a breakthrough research study succeeded in remodelling these fibres to restore their functional failure. More specifically, the experimentally tested research activity comprises three separate procedures. The first involves the transplantation of embryonic sensory nerve cells, which assume normal growth process of the host organism for sprout and gradual development of neural fibres at the injury site. The second includes the local administration of specific growth factors, which are agents that stimulate neural growth by blocking the growth-inhibitory factors. The third concerns the transplantation of supporting non-neural cells that stimulates new communication among cells and contributes to the growth of nerve fibres. The output of this study is extremely optimistic for recovering the lost sensory and motor function of disabled patients. Since the experiments conducted are similar to those conditions found in patients with brachial plexus avulsion, the forcible tearing away of the spinal nerves that supply the arm, forearm and hand, the results may be applied in such cases. Furthermore, harvesting from the growing pool of the new results, this research is expected to hold great promise for the way that damage to the spinal cord and central nervous system are treated.

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