Spinal Cord Injury Research
Browse the latest research summaries in the field of spinal cord injury for spinal cord injury patients and caregivers.
Showing 71-80 of 7,812 results
Combination Therapies in the CNS: Engineering the Environment
Neurosci Lett, 2012 • June 25, 2012
The review summarizes recent attempts to engineer the CNS extracellular environment after injury using combinatorial strategies involving neurotrophin delivery, cell transplantation, and biomaterial s...
KEY FINDING: Combining neurotrophic factor delivery with cell transplantation or biomaterial scaffolds may provide synergistic effects to improve functional recovery after spinal cord injury.
Enhanced Functional Recovery in MRL/MpJ Mice after Spinal Cord Dorsal Hemisection
PLoS ONE, 2012 • February 13, 2012
This study demonstrates enhanced functional recovery in MRL/MpJ mice after spinal cord dorsal hemisection compared to C57BL/6 mice. The improved recovery in MRL/MpJ mice is associated with enhanced re...
KEY FINDING: MRL/MpJ mice exhibit faster and more complete motor function recovery post-spinal cord injury compared to C57BL/6 mice.
Small-molecule-induced Rho-inhibition: NSAIDs after spinal cord injury
Cell Tissue Res., 2012 • July 1, 2012
The review focuses on the role of RhoA inhibition in promoting axonal plasticity and functional recovery after CNS injury, particularly spinal cord injury (SCI). It highlights how blocking RhoA activa...
KEY FINDING: Ibuprofen inhibits RhoA activation, enhancing axonal sprouting/regeneration.
Expression of the Wnt signaling system in central nervous system axon guidance and regeneration
Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 2012 • February 2, 2012
Wnt signaling is essential for axon wiring during nervous system development, with Wnts expressed in gradients to guide axon pathfinding and topographic mapping. Following spinal cord injury, Wnts are...
KEY FINDING: Wnt gradients guide axons along the anterior-posterior axis in CNS development, as demonstrated by the role of Wnts in directing commissural axons in the spinal cord.
Notch Signaling Controls Generation of Motor Neurons in the Lesioned Spinal Cord of Adult Zebrafish
The Journal of Neuroscience, 2012 • February 29, 2012
This study investigates the role of Notch signaling in motor neuron regeneration in the lesioned spinal cord of adult zebrafish. The researchers found that increased Notch signaling attenuates prolife...
KEY FINDING: Notch pathway genes are upregulated after spinal lesion in specific dorsoventral domains around the ventricle, reflecting the dorsoventral polarity of the adult progenitor domains.
Cellular therapies for treating pain associated with spinal cord injury
Journal of Translational Medicine, 2012 • March 6, 2012
Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to significant disability, reduced quality of life, and economic burden due to loss of productivity and lifelong supportive care. Neuropathic pain affects a significant ...
KEY FINDING: Cell-based therapies are emerging as promising therapeutic options for spinal cord regeneration and neuropathic pain mitigation after spinal cord injury.
Biodegradable biomatrices and bridging the injured spinal cord: the corticospinal tract as a proof of principle
Cell Tissue Res, 2012 • March 14, 2012
Important advances in the development of smart biodegradable implants for axonal regeneration after spinal cord injury have recently been reported. These advances are evaluated in this review with spe...
KEY FINDING: The corticospinal tract is often considered the ultimate challenge in demonstrating the success of repair strategies for spinal cord regeneration.
Myelin-derived ephrinB3 restricts axonal regeneration and recovery after adult CNS injury
PNAS, 2012 • March 27, 2012
This study demonstrates that ephrinB3, a myelin-associated protein, inhibits axonal regeneration and limits functional recovery after CNS injury. Experiments using ephrinB3-deficient mice show enhanc...
KEY FINDING: EphrinB3 contributes significantly to the inhibitory activity of myelin, restricting neurite outgrowth of dorsal root ganglion cells in vitro.
The endogenous proteoglycan-degrading enzyme ADAMTS-4 promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury
Journal of Neuroinflammation, 2012 • March 15, 2012
This study investigates the role of ADAMTS-4, a proteoglycan-degrading enzyme, in promoting functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). The research demonstrates that ADAMTS-4 can degrade CSPG...
KEY FINDING: ADAMTS-4 degrades endogenous CSPGs like brevican, neurocan, and phosphacan, reversing their inhibition of neurite outgrowth in vitro.
Extensive cell migration, axon regeneration and improved function with polysialic acid-modified Schwann cells after spinal cord injury
Glia, 2012 • May 1, 2012
This study investigates the effects of implanting polysialic acid (PSA)-modified Schwann cells (SCs) into a spinal cord contusion injury model in rats. The results indicate that PSA modification enhan...
KEY FINDING: PST-GFP SCs migrated significantly farther from the injury site compared to GFP SCs, extending up to 4.4 mm into the host tissue.