Browse the latest research summaries in the field of neurology for spinal cord injury patients and caregivers.
Showing 5,231-5,240 of 5,401 results
J Comp Neurol, 2008 • September 10, 2008
This study investigates the expression of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats, focusing on their potential roles in endogen...
KEY FINDING: CNTF protein levels continually rose through 28 days post injury in the spinal cord tissue centered on the contusion epicenter.
Stroke, 2008 • September 1, 2008
The study demonstrated that corticospinal tract fibers originating from the contralesional motor cortex sprout into the denervated spinal cord after stroke and bone marrow stromal cells treatment. BMS...
KEY FINDING: Stroke reduced the stimulation threshold evoking ipsilateral forelimb movement.
Glia, 2008 • November 15, 2008
This study introduces a novel in vitro model of the glial scar, generated by combining mechanical trauma and co-culture with meningeal cells using highly differentiated astrocytes. The model effective...
KEY FINDING: Mechanical stretch and co-culture with meningeal cells induced astrocyte reactivity, including stellation, clustering, and GFAP accumulation.
J. Anat., 2008 • July 21, 2008
This study investigates the therapeutic potential of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) for treating cerebral stroke in rats. BMSCs were transplanted into the cerebrum of rats following a transient mid...
KEY FINDING: Transplanted BMSCs survived and migrated to areas around the lesion site in the rat brains.
Exp Neurol, 2008 • November 1, 2008
This study investigated the effects of TGF-α infusion on astrocyte response and axonal growth following spinal cord injury in mice. TGF-α modified the physical hurdle of the scar by transforming the a...
KEY FINDING: TGF-α infusion promoted extensive axon growth into the lesion site following spinal cord injury in mice.
PLoS Biology, 2008 • July 22, 2008
The study uses genetic fate mapping to show that ependymal cells lining the central canal of the adult spinal cord act as neural stem cells in vitro and contribute extensively to the glial scar in viv...
KEY FINDING: Close to all in vitro neural stem cell potential in the adult spinal cord resides within the population of ependymal cells lining the central canal.
Neurosci Lett, 2008 • October 10, 2008
The study examined the combined effects of FGF-2 gene therapy and voluntary exercise on axonal regeneration across peripheral nerve gaps in rats. Schwann cells (SCs) were transplanted into nerve gaps,...
KEY FINDING: Exercise for 7 days elevated mRNA levels of regeneration associated proteins (GAP-43 and synapsin I) in lumbar spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia of SC transplanted, in contrast to non-cellular reconstructed rats.
Mol Cell Neurosci, 2008 • October 1, 2008
This study investigated the impact of deleting the OMgp gene on functional recovery and axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI) in mice. OMgp-/- mice on a mixed 129BL6 background exhibited ...
KEY FINDING: OMgp-/- mice on a mixed 129BL6 genetic background showed greater functional improvement compared to OMgp+/+ littermates after spinal cord injury.
The Journal of Neuroscience, 2008 • August 13, 2008
This study investigates the role of Wnt signaling in axon regeneration after spinal cord injury. It was found that normally undetectable Wnt genes are re-expressed following injury, with Wnt1 and Wnt5...
KEY FINDING: The study found that Wnt1 and Wnt5a, known repellents of corticospinal tract (CST) axons, were rapidly and broadly induced in the spinal cord gray matter after unilateral hemisection.
The Journal of Neuroscience, 2008 • August 20, 2008
This review discusses a study by Lasiene et al. (2008) that examined chronic demyelination in spared axons after spinal cord injury in mice, focusing on actively transporting rubrospinal tract (RST) a...
KEY FINDING: Lasiene et al. (2008) found evidence for complete remyelination of rubrospinal tract (RST) axons 12 weeks after spinal cord injury in mice.