Rats once paralyzed from complete surgical cuts through their spinal cords can walk again after stem cells were transplanted into the site of the injury, report researchers today in the journal Cell. The results suggest that stem cells might work as a treatment for patients even if they have completely severed cords, a potential therapy that has been viewed skeptically by many in the field. Neural stem cells, derived from aborted fetal spinal cord tissue, were implanted onto each side of the spinal cord injury in the rats along with a supportive matrix and molecular growth factors. The human stem cells grew into the site of injury and extended delicate cellular projections called axons into the rats spinal cord, despite the known growth-inhibiting environment of the injured spinal cord. The rats' own neurons sent axons into the transplanted material and the rats were able to move all joints of their hind legs. The cells are produced by a Rockville, Maryland company called Neuralstem. The same cells are also being tested in ALS patients (see "New Cells for ALS Patients") where they have shown some promise of stabilizing the progressive disease. Last month, the company announced that it has asked to … Continue reading →

A spinal cord injury used to mean an undoubtedly bleak future for an athlete. But with widespread advances in care, patients such as Tulane's Devon Walker, who sustained a cervical spine fracture (broken neck) Saturday against Tulsa, have new hope of potential recovery. The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, co-founded byspinal cord injury victim Marc Buoniconti, his father and NFL Hall ofFame linebacker Nick, and Dr. Barth Green,is an organization that has devoted years to uncovering groundbreaking medical treatments for such spinal cord injuries. "It's a different picture than it was before," Green said. "When I was being trained at Northwestern, I was taught that no (paralyzed) patient would ever walk again. And we know that's not true. "It's very common to have a broken neck without paralysis. Those patients are paralyzed if the force is high enough to crush the spinal cord. Somewhere between 40 and 60 percentof those with complete paralysis (no movement or sensation below) won't walk again. Some will improve naturally, a 5 to 10 percent range ... and some will improve with advancements in research." On the cutting edge of that research is a hypothermia treatment in which a patient's spinal cord is cooled. The … Continue reading →

New relay circuits, formed across sites of complete spinal transaction, result in functional recovery in rats Newswise In a study at the University of California, San Diego and VA San Diego Healthcare, researchers were able to regenerate an astonishing degree of axonal growth at the site of severe spinal cord injury in rats. Their research revealed that early stage neurons have the ability to survive and extend axons to form new, functional neuronal relays across an injury site in the adult central nervous system (CNS). The study also proved that at least some types of adult CNS axons can overcome a normally inhibitory growth environment to grow over long distances. Importantly, stem cells across species exhibit these properties. The work will be published in the journal Cell on September 14. The scientists embedded neural stem cells in a matrix of fibrin (a protein key to blood clotting that is already used in human neuron procedures), mixed with growth factors to form a gel. The gel was then applied to the injury site in rats with completely severed spinal cords. Using this method, after six weeks, the number of axons emerging from the injury site exceeded by 200-fold what had ever … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (Sep. 13, 2012) In a study at the University of California, San Diego and VA San Diego Healthcare, researchers were able to regenerate "an astonishing degree" of axonal growth at the site of severe spinal cord injury in rats. Their research revealed that early stage neurons have the ability to survive and extend axons to form new, functional neuronal relays across an injury site in the adult central nervous system (CNS). The study also proved that at least some types of adult CNS axons can overcome a normally inhibitory growth environment to grow over long distances. Importantly, stem cells across species exhibit these properties. The work will be published in the journal Cell on Sept. 14. The scientists embedded neural stem cells in a matrix of fibrin (a protein key to blood clotting that is already used in human neuron procedures), mixed with growth factors to form a gel. The gel was then applied to the injury site in rats with completely severed spinal cords. "Using this method, after six weeks, the number of axons emerging from the injury site exceeded by 200-fold what had ever been seen before," said Mark Tuszynski, MD, PhD, professor in the UC San … Continue reading →

ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSE MKT: CUR) announced that its neural stem cells were part of a study, "Long-Distance Growth and Connectivity of Neural Stem Cells After Severe Spinal Cord Injury: Cell-Intrinsic Mechanisms Overcome Spinal Inhibition," published online today in a leading scientific journal CELL (http://www.cell.com/current). In the study, rats with surgically transected spinal cords, which rendered them permanently and completely paraplegic, were transplanted with Neuralstem's spinal cord stem cells (NSI-566). The study reports that the animals recovered significant locomotor function, regaining movement in all lower extremity joints, and that the transplanted neural stem cells turned into neurons which grew a "remarkable" number of axons that extended for "very long distances" over 17 spinal segments, making connections both above and below the point of severance. These axons reached up to the cervical region (C4) and down to the lumbar region (L1). They also appeared to make reciprocal synaptic connectivity with the host rat spinal cord neurons in the gray matter for several segments below the injury. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20061221/DCTH007LOGO ) Further study showed that re-transecting the spinal cord immediately above the graft abolished the functional gain, indicating that the regeneration of host axons into the human stem … Continue reading →