Science: Spinal stem cells can help repair after an injury.

October 3, 2020 // --- spinal cord injury usually leads to permanent dysfunction.
a new study published in the journal Science at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden suggests that stem cells in the spinal cord in mice can be stimulated to form a large number of new, less dextive glial cells that are necessary for neurons' ability to transmit signals to help repair the injured spinal cord.
the spinal cord transmits signals from the brain to other parts of the body, and in the case of spinal cord injury, although most nerve fibers are intact, some key nerve fibers are truncated and therefore usually lead to some degree of paralysis.
this impaired function is usually caused by the loss of less protrusive glial cells.
(Photo: www.pixabay.com) In many organs, damaged tissue can be repaired by stem cells.
also exist in the adult spinal cord, but these stem cells mainly produce scarring to form cells after injury.
can reduce the extent of damage, but it does not significantly help in replacing lost cells.
current study, researchers carefully analyzed spinal cord stem cells at the genetic level of mice and found that the DNA of stem cells could accept signals that stimulated the formation of new less protrusive glial cells.
Enric Llorens-Bobadilla, lead author of the study and a researcher in the Department of Molecular Biology at the Karolinska Institute, said: "We found that stem cells are not locked to form scar tissue, and our study helps to reveal the differentiation mechanisms of stem cells in this group, which in effect helps cell repair."
by controlling which genes in the stem cells are activated, the researchers were able to stimulate the production of a large number of new less protrusive glial cells, leading to improved nerve fiber function in the damaged spinal cord.
this suggests that stem cells in the nervous system can be man-regulated to make a greater contribution to functional recovery," said lead researcher Jonas Frisén of the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at the Karolinska Institute.
" (Bioon.com) Source: Spinal cord stem cells can help repair after injury Original source: Llorens-Bobadilla et al., A latent lineage potential in resident neural stem cells enables spinal cord repair. Science (2020). DOI: 10.1126/science.abb8795.