By Barb Berggoetz, August 22, 2006 (indystar.com) - The genes and proteins in salamanders and frog tadpoles hold secrets that IUPUI researchers hope will lead them to discover how to regenerate limbs and tissues in humans.
Scientists with the Indiana University Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine will use a three-year, $1.6 million gift from the W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles to study amphibians' regenerative powers.
"We are trying to find out how this is done in animals that already know how to do it," said David L. Stocum, center director and biology professor at IU-Purdue Indianapolis.
The research may lead to drugs that could help heal a spinal injury or restore degenerating eyesight, or "smart bandages" that would regenerate an amputated finger or tissue of a wound, according to Stocum.
By Keith H. Bridwell et.al., August 2006 (JB&JS) - As is the case with other areas of the spine, advances in the treatment of the cervical spine have been made in the development of new technology such as disc arthroplasty, in the achievement of a better understanding of surgical morbidity, and in attempts to document outcomes of neurologic recovery. These issues were the focus of annual meetings of both the Cervical Spine Research Society and its European counterpart in 2005.
By Fei Qiao et.al., 2006 (amjpathol.org)- Initiation of an inflammatory cascade following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is thought to cause secondary injury and to adversely impact functional recovery, although the mechanisms involved are not well defined. We report on the dynamics of complement activation and deposition in the mouse spinal cord following traumatic injury, the role of complement in the development of SCI, and the characterization of a novel targeted complement inhibitor. Following traumatic injury, mice deficient in C3 had a significantly improved locomotor score when compared with wild-type controls, and analysis of their spinal cords revealed significantly more tissue sparing, with significantly less necrosis, demyelination, and neutrophil infiltration. Wild-type mice were also treated with CR2-Crry, a novel inhibitor of complement activation that targets to sites of C3 deposition. A single intravenous injection of CR2-Crry 1 hour after traumatic injury improved functional outcome and pathology to an extent similar to that seen in C3-deficient animals.
August 23, 2006 (businesswire.com) - Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems, Inc. (OTCBB: CYKN; "Cyberkinetics") announced that preliminary results from the pilot trials of Cyberkinetics' BrainGate Neural Interface System (BrainGate) were presented at the Neural Interfaces Workshop in Bethesda, Maryland, sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke ...
By Case Western Reserve University, August 19, 2006 (RxPG News) - This provides the most conclusive evidence to date that severed nerve fibers in the spinal cord can, in fact, regenerate for long distances and establish proper functional connections ...
By Katharine Ott, August 13, 2006 (JSOnline) - Current research on fish at the Great Lakes WATER Institute may someday help create new treatments for spinal cord injuries and degenerative diseases such as glaucoma ...