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New therapy with ‘special scaffold’ reverses paralysis in mice
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of The Independent (One of the UK's leading newspapers)
Posted: December 12th, 2021
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/therapy-scaffold-...
Scientists have developed a novel therapy that promotes recovery from spinal cord injury and reverses paralysis in mice. In the research published in the journal Science ... scientists administered a single injection to tissues surrounding the spinal cords of paralysed mice. Just four weeks later, the rodents could walk again. The therapy, administered in the form of a gel, works by organising molecules at the injury site into a complex network of nanofibers mimicking the natural matrix found in all tissues that play a major role in wound healing and cell to cell communication, the study noted. This gel tunes the motion of molecules at the injury sites, enabling them to find and properly engage with constantly moving receptors on cells, said the researchers. “The key innovation in our research, which has never been done before, is to control the collective motion of more than 100,000 molecules within our nanofibers,” study co-author Samuel I Stupp from Northwestern University said. One of the challenges in administering wound healing drugs, the scientists said, is that the receptors sticking out of nerve cells and other types of cells constantly moves around. The novel gel fine-tunes the motion of molecules which “move, ‘dance’ or even leap temporarily out of these structures”, enabling them to connect more effectively with receptors, Dr Stupp explained. With further studies and clinical trials, the scientists believe that the new therapy could be used to prevent paralysis after major trauma.
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