Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are often seen as daunting afflictions with not a lot of treatment options as it is difficult for nervous tissue to repair itself and regenerate at the site of injury. Recently, our Neuroscience Seminar class heard Dr. Oudega talk about the potential to change that by creating a method of facilitating that regrowth and regeneration using an injectable nanofiber hydrogel composite (NHC). This is revolutionary to the field because for so long, patients who suffer from these injuries never see a full recovery and this method could potentially change that. When there is a spinal cord injury, a glial scar forms and this eventually prevents further healing in the area. To overcome this problem, Oudega and colleagues created the NHC to act as a bridge between the damaged area and the regrowth of blood vessels and extracellular matrix and a way to limit the thinning of the spinal cord. This study was done in rats and provides a framework for future studies possibly using mesenchymal stromal cells or Schwann cells.
Speaking of future studies, Cao and colleagues have already developed a model for canines using aligned fibrin hydrogel (AFG). Both of these studies use hydrogel because it is able to fill up the cavity that is lesioned and allow enough space for cells to come in and it has similar properties to nerve tissue. In Cao et al.'s previous work, they used mesenchymal stromal cells which was a future direction of Oudega and colleague's study. Cao et al. used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) which allowed for a higher resolution perspective to monitor the damaged nerve tissue. Using canines allows for a closer look at spinal cord injuries in other species and can help us eventually translate these techniques to human models. The implantation of the AFG model significantly improved gait and weight-bearing ability in the dogs and promoted axon regeneration.
Using these models as a guide to human trials is important because seeing the positive results and healing that occurs gives us hope for a better treatment for the people around us who struggle every day because of spinal cord injuries. A limitation in these studies is that Cao et al focused on the lumbar spinal cord segment which has less gray matter and neurons than other spinal cord segments. Oudega and colleagues used the ninth thoracic spinal cord, so there is still much to be done on higher segments such as the cervical spinal cord to see if we can use this model there as well.
But imagine the possibilities! My great aunt had polio as a kid and was wheelchair-bound her entire life, so I personally saw the struggles she faced because of her injury and how it affected our family. Hopefully, with more research and work done to solidify this treatment, we can help others regain a healthy life after spinal cord injury.
Work Cited
Cao Z, Yao S, Xiong Y, Zhang Z, Yang Y, He F, Zhao H, Guo Y, Wang G, Xie S, Guo H, Wang X. Directional axonal regrowth induced by an aligned fibrin nanofiber hydrogel contributes to improved motor function recovery in canine L2 spinal cord injury. J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2020 Apr 21;31(5):40. doi: 10.1007/s10856-020-06375-9. PMID: 32318825.
Li X, Zhang C, Haggerty AE, Yan J, Lan M, Seu M, Yang M, Marlow MM, Maldonado-Lasunción I, Cho B, Zhou Z, Chen L, Martin R, Nitobe Y, Yamane K, You H, Reddy S, Quan DP, Oudega M, Mao HQ. The effect of a nanofiber-hydrogel composite on neural tissue repair and regeneration in the contused spinal cord. Biomaterials. 2020 Jul;245:119978. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.119978. Epub 2020 Mar 16. PMID: 32217415; PMCID: PMC8787820.
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