Can Damage to the Spinal Cord Be Reversed?

There are about 450,000 people living with a spinal cord injury in the United States, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal that can lead to total or some loss of motor and sensory function below the level of injury. In an incomplete SCI, a person could have more functioning on one side of the body compared to the other. These injuries usually result from car accidents, falls, acts of violence, sports, or other recreational activities, and rehabilitation is typically the main treatment for patients to regain mobility. 

Researchers at the Imperial College London in the United Kingdom have found that weekly treatments with an epigenetic activator, TTK21, can lead to the regrowth of sensory and motor neurons in the spinal cord in mice, 12 weeks after severe injury. TTK21 is a small molecule that changes the epigenetic state of genes by activating a family of co-activator proteins called CBP/p300.  Previously, they had used TTK21 to activate genetic programming that induces axon regeneration in neurons, so they wanted to see how TTK21 would do with severe spinal cord injuries. TTK21 was administered once a week for 10 weeks and compared with a control treatment. Compared to the control, there was significantly more axon sprouting in the spinal cord, and the retraction of motor axons above the point of injury stopped. Also, sensory axon growth increased. In other words, neuronal regrowth and an increase in synapses occurred. This was explained by the increase in gene expression related to regeneration. The goal for these researchers now is to enhance these effects and trigger the regenerating axons to reconnect with the rest of the nervous system so that the mice can regain their mobility 

Currently, SCI has no treatment that will cause neuronal regrowth, so countless patients with severe SCI will have to live with a loss in motor and sensory function. This study, however, provides hope to SCI patients because their findings show that it may be possible for humans to regrow their sensory and motor in the spinal cord and, ultimately, regain their mobility and sensory. It also opens doorways for other researchers to test the findings and see if they can find ways to improve and expand on the results. Additionally, these results can be promising for neurodegenerative diseases and other diseases if TTK21 can promote neuronal regrowth in other places besides the spinal cord. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/09/220920145435.htm

Posted by Tiffany Pham (3) 


Comments

  1. Adyelis M. Colon MartinezOctober 5, 2022 at 10:34 AM

    Hello Tiffany! This was such a complex read to me as so many different factors are involved in research for SCI. I was always under the impression that damage to the spinal cord was generally permanent. However, seeing that research is being done that is slowly getting positive results which give hope to SCI patients is absolutely amazing. Is there currently any treatment used for SCI or is there none at all?
    -Adyelis M. Colon Martinez

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousOctober 7, 2022 at 7:24 PM

      Hi Adyelis,

      Currently, there is no treatment to reverse the damage to the spinal cord, so treatment focuses on preventing further injury and empowering people to return to an active and productive life. For acute SCIs, surgery is done to remove fluid fluid or tissue pressing on the spinal cord, bone fragments, disk fragments, or foreign objects. It can also be done to fuse broken spinal bones or place spinal braces. Traction can be done to stretch the spine to take pressure off compressed discs. Another treatment is methylprednisolone, which is a steroid administered within 8 hours of injury that works by reducing damage to nerve cells and decreasing inflammation near the site of injury. Plus, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and assistive devices are used.
      - Tiffany Pham

      Delete
  2. Owen BradleyOctober 5, 2022 at 6:01 PM

    Hi Tiffany,
    There are many people who live with SCIs. SCIs drastically reduce a person's quality of life. Very rarely someone overcomes an injury and can return to their previous life. It is important to remember that there is still a long way to go before this can become widely available to people but it could be life changing for so many. This is very interesting and exciting! How much research has been done on possible treatments for SCIs besides this?

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousOctober 7, 2022 at 7:34 PM

      Hi Owen,
      I feel like there is a lot of research being done to understand SCIs as well as potential treatments, but there is not many that have passed clinical trials yet in what I've been able to find. The 4 main principles that current researches have been focusing on is neuroprotection (preventing cell death and protecting surviving nerve cells from further damage), repair and regeneration (encouraging the spinal cord's intrinsic ability to self repair and stimulate regrowth of axons and targeting their connections appropriately), cell based therapies (replacing damaged nerve or support cells with other cell types for regeneration of neurons), and restraining the central nervous system circuits to restore body functions and form new nerve connections through techniques like rehabilitation, electrical stimulation, and technology.
      - Tiffany Pham

      Delete

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