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Sep 23, 2023

Scientists regenerate neurons that restore walking in mice after paralysis from spinal cord injury

Posted by in categories: genetics, neuroscience

In a new study in mice, a team of researchers from UCLA, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and Harvard University have uncovered a crucial component for restoring functional activity after spinal cord injury. The neuroscientists have shown that re-growing specific neurons back to their natural target regions led to recovery, while random regrowth was not effective.

In a 2018 study published in Nature, the team identified a treatment approach that triggers axons —the tiny fibers that link and enable them to communicate—to regrow after spinal cord in rodents. But even as that approach successfully led to the of across severe spinal cord lesions, achieving functional recovery remained a significant challenge.

In a new study, published in Science, the team aimed to determine whether directing the regeneration of axons from specific neuronal subpopulations to their natural target regions could lead to meaningful functional restoration after spinal cord injury in . They first used advanced genetic analysis to identify nerve cell groups that enable walking improvement after a partial spinal cord injury.

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