[라포르시안] A new mechanism has been announced that the protein secreted by inflammatory cells, which is generally known to worsen neurological diseases, does not cause the degeneration of nerve cells, but rather helps the regeneration of the damaged spinal cord.
Ajou University’s Department of Brain Sciences Professor Byung-gon Kim (postdoctoral researcher Min-jeong Kwon) announced on the 11th that they confirmed that Oncomodulin, a protein secreted by macrophages, known to cause inflammation, helps to regenerate sensory nerves in the spinal cord.
In particular, it was confirmed that the spinal cord regeneration effect was significantly increased when the nanogel and oncomodulin were combined and injected. Nanogel is a nano-sized hydrogel developed by Professor Kang Chang-chang’s team at the Catholic University of Medicine.
When the nanogel and oncomodulin complex were injected in an animal model of spinal cord injury in rats, it was confirmed that the activity of oncomodulin was stably maintained, and it was slowly released around sensory cells to regenerate the axons constituting the neural circuit. In particular, when this composite was injected, regeneration of more than 2 mm was confirmed, which is much longer than that reported in previous studies.
In this regard, the research team explained that the nanogels of nanoparticles appear to greatly enhance the regeneration effect by reducing damage and inhibiting protein degradation when proteins are delivered to tissues.
Professor Kim Byeong-gon said, “This study is meaningful in that it has identified the mechanism by which macrophages, which are inflammatory cells, play a beneficial role in helping the regeneration of the spinal cord. In particular, it was confirmed that the nanogel and oncomodulin complex showed superior spinal nerve regeneration effect compared to previous studies.”
“We will conduct research to develop clinical application technology using nanogels in the future,” he added.
This study was published in the August 2022 online edition of Theranostics (IF:11.60), a world-renowned academic journal introducing new technologies for diagnosis and treatment of various diseases, ‘Nanogel-mediated delivery of oncomodulin secreted from regeneration-associated macrophages promotes sensory axon It was published under the title of ‘regeneration in the spinal cord’.
