2023-09-22 08:46:31
Swiss scientists have cured paralyzed mice. Using gene therapy, they caused neurons to grow across a completely severed spinal cord and reconnect in the right place. According to the researchers, many obstacles must still be overcome before this gene therapy can be used in humans. The results were published on Thursday evening in the journal “Science”.
After gene therapy developed by scientists at the Lausanne research institute Neurorestore, mice with complete spinal cord injuries gained the ability to walk. They showed similar gait patterns to mice that learned to walk once more following an incomplete spinal cord injury, as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) announced on Friday.
Five years ago, the scientists from Lausanne succeeded in stimulating the growth of nerve cells through a completely severed spinal cord. “Contrary to our expectations, none of the animals gained the ability to walk,” said study author Mark Anderson from EPFL in a video regarding the study.
To find out what the reasons are, the researchers examined the cells of mice that learned to walk once more following an incomplete spinal cord injury. While a complete transection of the spinal cord does not cure paralysis, an incomplete spinal cord injury in which some nerve pathways remain intact can result in a spontaneous recovery of motor functions – in both mice and humans. Through this research, they identified a specific type of neuron that needs to grow back for animals to regain the ability to walk, the study shows.
This discovery formed the basis for the development of the new gene therapy. The scientists activated growth programs in the identified neurons in mice to regenerate their nerve fibers, upregulated specific proteins to support the growth of the neurons across the severed spinal cord, and administered guide molecules to direct the regenerating nerve fibers to the correct location to steer.
According to EPFL, researchers have already started developing a technology that will enable this gene therapy to be used in humans. Back in May, a research team from Lausanne achieved a breakthrough in healing paralyzed people. Using an implant in the brain and electrodes in the spinal cord, they made a paraplegic man walk once more, as they reported in the journal Nature.
According to the study authors, the implants in the spinal cord and brain communicated with each other via a kind of “digital bridge”. A spinal cord injury can disrupt communication between the brain and the area of the spinal cord that controls walking, resulting in paralysis. The so-called Brain-Spine Interface (BSI) restored this communication.
However, independent researchers warned once morest false hopes. “As always with such spectacular individual reports, it is not possible to seriously conclude that there is a solution for other affected people,” said Winfried May from the Austrian Society for Biomedical Engineering regarding this study.
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