similarities?

Proteins 'reduce' spinal injuries
Julia Medew
November 16, 2011
AUSTRALIAN researchers have found a way to treat spinal cord degeneration in animals, boosting hopes they will be able to prevent paralysis in people who suffer spinal cord injuries.

In a world first, Ben Goss and a team of scientists from Queensland University of Technology reported that two proteins prevented significant loss of tissue and scarring in rats with severed spinal cords.

The proteins also minimised toxicity at the injury site, promoting new, healthy nerve growth which was evident on scans a month after treatment.

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Dr Goss said the finding, reported in the Journal of Neurotrauma, was significant because there was no effective way of halting the progression of a spinal cord injury to permanent paralysis.

Every year, about 30,000 people globally injure their spinal cords, including about 400 annually in Australia. The injury leads to permanent disability.

When a spinal cord is injured, a prolonged inflammatory response leads to degeneration of spinal cord tissue.

Dr Goss said the two proteins used in his research had been able to overcome this problem by manipulating the inflammation after injury.

The effect was so great that the size of the lesions in the rats' spinal cords decreased to a quarter of the original size within months. Importantly, he said the proteins did not create any other damage.

While the discovery may help the progression of other experimental spinal cord injury treatments, Dr Goss said he was already looking at ways to refine the dose of the two proteins so he could try to safely move to human trials in the next three years.

''No one has achieved this level of repair in an animal before … It's very exciting and promising research,'' he said.

However, to continue the project, the team needs about $20 million over the next five years. In an effort to raise the funds, Dr Goss has teamed up with the director of the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research, Alan Mackay-Sim, and engineer Don Fry to create the Walk Again Society.

Adjunct Professor Fry said he was so confident in the research he would ask for the proteins to be used on him if he suffered a spinal cord injury today. ''There's hope. With some further assistance and research, I reckon we can crack this,'' he said.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/proteins-reduce-spinal-injuries-20111115-1nh8n.html#ixzz1dqZVB0LB