Scientists say treatment used on mice may transform treatments for spinal injuries

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Mice with spinal cord injuries that left their hind legs completely paralyzed have learned to walk again after a single injection of synthetic nanofibers that scientists say could revolutionize treatments for the condition.

The treatment relies on engineered molecules that mimic the natural environment of the spinal cord and send signals to stimulate cells to repair and regenerate. The team behind the work hopes to begin patient trials within two years.

Professor Samuel Staub, of Northwestern University in Chicago, who led the study, believes the work could pave the way for the first effective treatment for spinal cord injuries. “I am very excited and confident that this will help patients,” he said. “We are going directly to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin the process of getting this new treatment approved for use in human patients, who currently have very few treatment options.” .

There are an estimated 50,000 people in the UK living with a spinal cord injury and around 2,500 people develop new injuries each year. There are currently no effective treatments to repair spinal cord damage.

The treatment used a new class of smart materials to mimic the body’s extracellular matrix, the non-cellular component of all tissues previously seen as little more than an inert scaffold. However, there is mounting evidence that the matrix plays a complex role in the body’s repair process through biochemical and biomechanical signals – and this is what Stupp and colleagues aimed to replicate.

mice

To do this, they used a new class of materials called supramolecular polymers, made up of poorly bonded structural units that vibrate and vibrate, allowing them to find and communicate with cellular receptors that are also constantly on the move.

These polymers can be dissolved in water and given as a liquid injection, but upon contact with living tissue they instantly turn into a gel that stays in place at the site of injury.

“The cells immediately travel into the water-filled voids and get entangled in the nanofibers,” said Staub. “Over the course of about two to three weeks, these fibers signal the cells to repair.”

The latest research paper, published in Science, described how mice with spinal injuries who were given a single injection of the synthetic matrix regained the ability to walk within three to four weeks of treatment. The study also found that the treatment caused the regrowth of severed extensions of nerve cells, known as axons. a decrease in scar tissue, which can become a physical barrier to repair; Formation of new blood vessels and improved survival of motor neurons.

After the treatment performs its repair function, it biodegrades into nutrients for the cells within 12 weeks and then disappears from the body completely.

This advance comes after a number of high-profile studies on spinal cord injury in the past decade that have yet to translate into approved treatments for patients, including a study suggesting electrical implants could aid in regeneration and another study suggesting stem cell injections could be beneficial for patients. useful. promising treatment. Stubbe expressed confidence that his team’s approach, this time around, would work.

“It does not involve the use of cells, nor does it involve the use of electricity, gaseous devices, or genes that could be dangerous,” he said. “Why this might be different from previous ideas is that the treatment is very translatable. It’s a relatively simple molecule. That’s why we’re so excited.”

The team plans to file an application with the Food and Drug Administration next year for permission to conduct a human trial and hopes to be able to start such a trial within two years.

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