Good News for a change

[BoSoxGal]

It would be so wonderful if this ends up working in humans!

New gel treatment by Northwestern scientists allows paralyzed mice to walk again

4hrs ago
The team of Northwestern University scientists behind the newly-published research injected a gel into tissue surrounding the spinal cords of lab mice 24 hours after an incision was made in their spines.

The team decided to wait a day because humans who receive devastating spinal injuries from car accidents, gunshots and other traumatic events also experience delays in getting treatment.

Four weeks later, mice who received the treatment regained their ability to walk almost as well as before the injury. Those left untreated did not.

'The aim of our research was to develop a translatable therapy that could be brought to the clinic to prevent individuals from becoming paralyzed after major trauma or disease,' said Northwestern's Samuel Stupp, who led the study.

Stupp wants the FDA to approve human trials because the nervous system is highly similar across mammal species and 'there is nothing out there to help spinal cord injury patients, and this is a huge human problem,' he said.

Northwestern develops injectable to repair spinal cord injuries

This handout picture obtained from Northwestern University shows a longitudinal spinal cord section treated with the most bioactive therapeutic scaffold; regenerated axons (red) regrew within the lesion

Curing paralysis is a longstanding goal of medicine, and other cutting-edge research in the field includes experimental treatments using stem cells to make new neurons (nerve cells), gene therapy that tells the body to produce certain proteins to aid nerve repair, or injecting proteins.

Stupp's team, on the other hand, used nanofibers to mimic the architecture of the 'extracellular matrix' - a naturally occurring network of molecules surrounding tissue that is responsible for supporting cells.

Each fiber is about 10,000 times narrower than a human hair, and they are made up of hundreds of thousands of bioactive molecules called peptides that transmit signals to promote nerve regeneration.

The mice that had the injected nanofibers showed dramatic improvements to their spinal cords, Stupp said.

The severed extensions of neurons called axons regenerated, and scar tissue that can act as a physical barrier to regeneration was significantly diminished.

What's more, an insulating layer of axons called myelin that is important in transmitting electric signals had reformed, blood vessels that deliver nutrients to injured cells had formed, and more motor neurons survived.



The gel treatment (pictured) is able to mimic the 'natural environment' around the spinal cord
The gel is injected into the subjects as a liquid in an attempt to create that natural environment

A key discovery by the team was that creating a certain mutation in the molecules intensified their collective motion and heightened their efficacy.

This is because receptors in neurons are naturally in constant motion, Stupp explained, and increasing the motion of the therapeutic molecules within the nanofibers helps connect them more effectively with their moving targets.

The researchers in fact tested two versions of the treatment - one with the mutation and one without - and found that mice that received the modified version regained more function.

The gel developed by the scientists is the first of its kind, but could usher in a new generation of medicines known as 'supramolecular drugs,' because the therapy is an assembly of many molecules rather than a single molecule, said Stupp.

According to the team, it is safe because the materials biodegrade within a matter of weeks and become nutrients for cells.

Stupp said he hopes to rapidly move direct to human studies next without the need for further animal testing, such as on primates.

Nearly 300,000 people are living with a spinal cord injury in the United States alone.

Their lifespan is shorter than people without spinal injury, and has not improved since the 1980s.

'The challenge will be how the FDA will look at these therapies because they're completely new,' predicted Stupp.

[Sue U]

As a medical researcher once quipped, "It's a great day for mice."

[Joe Guy]

That is good news. I hope these mice volunteered for the experiment and were well compensated. Sadly, I know that isn't how it works but I hope they were at least given the respect to be addressed by their preferred sexual identity.

[BoSoxGal]

That is good news. I hope these mice volunteered for the experiment and were well compensated. Sadly, I know that isn't how it works but I hope they were at least given the respect to be addressed by their preferred sexual identity.

Oh for fuck’s sake.

[Joe Guy]

I'm offended by that depiction of a dead horse being beaten.

[Bicycle Bill]

I'm offended by that depiction of a dead horse being beaten.

By posting that image, I guess this means that BSG supports the abuse of dead horses.  Just so long as it was not a mare.

-"BB"-

[Joe Guy]

And it’s possible that horse might have made a good argument against dead horse abuse before it passed away.

[Gob]

I'm offended by that depiction of a dead horse being beaten.

What?!?!? You BIGOT!! Why doesn't anyone think of the necrophilic bestiality community these days, You necrobestiphobe!!

[MajGenl.Meade]

What's all this fuss about Biggles? He was a straight shooter, battling the Hun in the skies of Europe. What does it matter if one or two of those German pilots may not have been so straight and had a little more than just luft in their waffe? How is Biggles supposed to read name tags and preferences when an HE111 or a SHE111 or IT111 or a Flying Pencil is dropping twopenny-ones? And don't get me started on 'Ginger'. What? What? Bigots? Oh . . .

[Joe Guy]

What?!?!? You BIGOT!! Why doesn't anyone think of the necrophilic bestiality community these days, You necrobestiphobe!!

That's a good argument for requiring people to declare their necrophiliac bestiality status on ID badges. I had no idea and made an assumption that now makes me appear to be necrobestiphobic.