A team of German Scientists is offering hope for people who have sports, traffic, or war-related injuries of the spinal cord.
According to a recent article in Neuroscience News, these mostly permanent injuries are the result of nerve fiber damage. The nerve fibers (axons) carry information between the brain, muscles, and skin. When damaged even through illness, there is a disconnect in communication.
Severed axons cannot grow back. Currently, with no available treatment options, patients may be paralyzed for life.
About the Mechanism
The German scientists caused the motor-sensory cortex’ nerve cells to develop hyper-interleukin-6 (hIL-6) by using viruses responsive to gene therapy.
hIL-6 is called a “designer cytokine” meaning that it does not occur in nature. It must be developed through genetic engineering. Dietmar Fischer’s research team had previously conducted a study on hIL-6 as it pertains to optic-nerve regeneration.
A Blueprint to Produce Motor Neurons
The viruses in the hIL-6 study were injected into the brain of the mouse models and created a blueprint enabling development of proteins called motor neurons that are connected to nerve cells in the brain that control movement. As part of the process, hyper-interleukin-6 was also sent to the brain’s nerve cells which are somewhat inaccessible. The delivery system is called “transmural,” meaning through the wall of an organ.
Dietmar Fischer, a member of the Bochum team, explained that it required only a small number of nerve cells to simultaneously activate the axonal regeneration of other nerve cells in the brain. This included spinal cord motor tracts. After two weeks the study’s paralyzed animals began to walk again.
Looking Forward
Currently, the team is considering how to combine the formula with others that would optimize the use of hIL-6 for other improvements. The Bochum team is also investigating whether hIL-6 would be just as effective on more recent injuries. This factor would be of importance in human application.
The team acknowledges that the study of hIL-6 is relatively new, and further experiments are needed to determine whether it can be applicable to humans.
