Browse the latest research summaries in the field of neurology for spinal cord injury patients and caregivers.
Showing 51-60 of 5,401 results
Trends Cell Biol, 2011 • October 1, 2011
The nematode C. elegans has emerged as a genetically tractable model for studying axon regeneration. Laser axotomy allows for precise severing of axons, and large-scale genetic screens have identified...
KEY FINDING: DLK-1, a conserved MAPKKK, is essential for axon regeneration in motor and mechanosensory neurons. Overexpression of DLK-1 is sufficient to enhance regenerative growth, making it a rate-limiting switch.
Brain, 2011 • September 1, 2011
This study investigates the distinct roles of soluble TNF and transmembrane TNF in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) using pharmacological inhibitors. The researchers found that selectiv...
KEY FINDING: Selective inhibition of soluble TNF with XPro1595 improves the clinical outcome in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).
J. Vis. Exp., 2011 • September 1, 2011
This study describes methods for live imaging of dorsal root axons after rhizotomy, focusing on techniques to assure successful long-term and repeated imaging of regenerating DR axons. Strategies incl...
KEY FINDING: After a crush injury, most YFP+ axons grew through the injury site within three days.
Neurotherapeutics, 2011 • September 15, 2011
This review highlights the progress in developing astrocyte transplantation therapies for CNS repair, emphasizing the importance of astrocytes as supporting cells for neuronal replacement. The authors...
KEY FINDING: Pre-differentiating GRP cells into GDAsBMP before transplantation promotes axonal regeneration, neuronal survival, tissue realignment, and functional recovery in transected rat spinal cords.
PLoS ONE, 2011 • September 13, 2011
This study provides evidence that soluble inhibitors of EphA4 function can be used therapeutically to promote recovery from spinal cord injury in mice. Two EphA4 blockers, ephrin-A5-Fc and EphA4-Fc, w...
KEY FINDING: Administration of either ephrin-A5-Fc or EphA4-Fc for 2 weeks following spinal cord injury resulted in substantial axonal regeneration, with many axons entering and crossing the lesion site.
Brain Res, 2011 • October 18, 2011
This study investigates the effectiveness of a combination therapy involving acute administration of NBQX (an AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist) and delayed transplantation of neuronal precursors (NRP/...
KEY FINDING: The combined treatment (NBQX & NRP/GRP) accelerated the recovery of bladder contraction after spinal cord injury compared to controls.
Exp Neurol, 2012 • February 1, 2012
This study was designed as a direct replication of a previous experiment that reported inosine promotes the growth of corticospinal tract (CST) axons across the midline of the spinal cord after injury...
KEY FINDING: Intracortical delivery of inosine did not trigger extensive growth of CST axons across the astroglial boundary at the midline of the dorsal column following unilateral pyramidotomy.
PNAS, 2011 • October 4, 2011
This study investigated the therapeutic potential of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurospheres (hiPSC-NSs) for treating spinal cord injury (SCI) in mice. The findings demonstrated that ...
KEY FINDING: Transplanted hiPSC-NSs survived, migrated, and differentiated into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes within the injured spinal cord of mice.
PLoS ONE, 2011 • September 21, 2011
This study investigates the role of microglia in axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI) and identifies RGMa as a key molecule mediating the inhibitory effects of activated microglia on axo...
KEY FINDING: Activated microglia inhibit neurite outgrowth and induce growth cone collapse of cortical neurons in vitro, but only when there is direct contact between microglia and neurons.
The Journal of Neuroscience, 2011 • October 5, 2011
This study identifies leukocyte common antigen-related phosphatase (LAR) as a functional receptor for chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs), which are known axon growth inhibitors. The researchers...
KEY FINDING: CSPGs bind to the LAR phosphatase with high affinity in COS-7 cells, indicating a direct interaction between these molecules.