New spinal cord treatment reverses paralysis in mice: researchers

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a “breakthrough” new therapy to help paralyzed mice walk again that could result in a potentially life-changing treatment for humans.

Scientists injected a gel containing nanofibers into the spinal cords of mice, where they mimic spinal cord molecules and “dance” to make contact with cell receptors, essentially triggering them into movement, according to research published on Friday in the journal Science.

The new connections prompt the severed pathways between nerve cells, called axons, to regenerate and grow back better.

Just a single injection of the “dancing molecules” was enough to reverse total paralysis and repair tissue in the mice, which regained the ability to walk within four weeks.

In addition to treating paralysis, the procedure sees healthy cells proliferate, promoting regrowth and healing in parts of the body that are involved with the health of the nervous system, such as blood vessels that feed neurons.

Some 300,000 Americans are living with the painful and debilitating effects of spinal cord injury, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, but less than 3% of those patients typically recover even basic physical functions, the Northwestern release notes. Meanwhile, an estimated 30% of them will be rehospitalized at some point following their initial injury — contributing towards the “millions of dollars in average lifetime health care costs” for patients with spinal cord injury.

Treatment depends on the type of injury and can include surgery, steroids and drugs to treat pain and physical therapy — none of which have provided the most favorable outcomes, that being full recovery or reversal. Most simply mitigate symptoms.

“I wanted to make a difference on the outcomes of spinal cord injury,” said Northwestern’s Samuel I. Stupp, the distinguished professor of medical engineering who led the study in a press statement.

“Our research aims to find a therapy that can prevent individuals from becoming paralyzed after major trauma or disease,” said Stupp. He also pointed out that “new science to address spinal cord injury could have impact on strategies for neurodegenerative diseases and stroke.”

These types of spinal injuries see that affected nerve fibers become damaged or broken, leading to numbness, pain and the loss of communication between the brain and the body in certain areas, or paralysis. That’s because the spinal cord is like the main highway of the central nervous system, transmitting information and commands out of the brain to various body parts.

“For decades, this has remained a major challenge for scientists because our body’s central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord, does not have any significant capacity to repair itself after injury or after the onset of a degenerative disease,” Stupp explained. The researchers’ never-before-done work with “dancing molecules,” meanwhile, mimics the matrix of the spinal cord and helps connect with receptors, which communicate with cells.

“We are going straight to the FDA to start the process of getting this new therapy approved for use in human patients, who currently have very few treatment options,” Stupp said of the innovative technique.

Stupp believes their work also could shed light on treatment for other neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

“Beyond that, our fundamental discovery about controlling the motion of molecular assemblies to enhance cell signaling could be applied universally across biomedical targets,” he added.