Spinal Drug Offers Paralysis Hope

Yes, it’s ok to get excited—even though many tests work on mice that fail on people – we must note that researchers at Case Western Reserve University have devised a treatment of the spinal cord that is showing potential to treat paralysis.

As FierceBioTech reporter Damian Garde explained it, injury to the spine often severs long nerve fibers called axons. This interrupts signals from the brain and leads to paralysis. The axons try to repair themselves by crossing over the damaged area and attempting to connect with their counterparts on the other side of the injury. This seldom works, however, because of the interaction between an enzyme called PTP sigma and the proteins in scar tissue.

Researcher Bradley Lang took on PTP sigma and the scar tissue proteins and created a drug that blocks the action of PTP sigma and allows the body’s axon network to reconnect with other nerves. The drug could be injected underneath the skin and no invasive procedures, that could further damage tissues, would be needed.

Professor Jerry Silver, of Case Western Reserve, tried out Lang’s drug on rats with paralysis due to injury and found that the treatment led to major improvements in the rat’s ability to walk. Silver’s team also noted that their drug spurred axon growth below the site of the rats’ injury.

Garde noted that, “there are no available drugs to help spinal cord injuries heal, and many in-development treatments are stem cell therapies, requiring invasive procedures that could further damage tissues. We’re very excited at the possibility that millions of people could, one day, regain movements lost during spinal cord injuries, ” Silver said in a statement. “We now have an agent that may work alone or in combination with other treatments to improve the lives of many.”