Scientists at a German university help paralyzed mice walk again

BreaknLinks

Bochum, Germany
Photo: Leon Kuegeler / Reuters

German researchers have successfully helped mice paralyzed after spinal cord injuries to walk again by re-establishing a neural link previously considered irreparable in mammals by using a designer protein injected into the brain.

Spinal cord injuries in humans, often caused by sports or traffic accidents, leave them paralyzed for life because not all of the nerve fibers that carry information between muscles and the brain are able to recover from the injury.

But the researchers from Ruhr University Bochum managed to stimulate the paralyzed mice’s nerve cells and cause them to regenerate by using a designer protein.

“The special thing about our study is that the protein is not only used to stimulate those nerve cells that produce it themselves but that it is also carried further (through the brain),” the team’s head Dietmar Fischer told in an interview.

“In this way, with a relatively small intervention, we stimulate a very large number of nerves to regenerate and that is ultimately the reason why the mice can walk again.”

The paralyzed rodents that received the treatment started walking after two to three weeks, he added.

According to the university’s website, the treatment involves injecting carriers of genetic information into the brain to produce the protein, called hyper-interleukin-6.

The team is currently investigating if the treatment can be improved.

“We also have to see if our method works on larger mammals. We would think of pigs, dogs or primates, for example,” said Fischer.

“Then, if it works there, we would have to make sure that the therapy is safe for humans too. But that will certainly take many, many years.”

Publish : 2021-01-23 00:31:00

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