German scientists make paralyzed mice walk again



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(Reuters) – German researchers have allowed mice paralyzed after spinal cord injuries to walk again, reestablishing a neural link previously considered irreparable in mammals using a design protein injected into the brain.

Spinal cord injuries in humans, often caused by sports or traffic accidents, leave them paralyzed because not all of the nerve fibers that carry information between muscles and the brain are unable to grow back.

But researchers at Ruhr University in Bochum were able to stimulate the regeneration of nerve cells in paralyzed mice using a design protein.

“The peculiarity of our study is that the protein is not only used to stimulate the nerve cells that produce it themselves, but is also transported further (through the brain),” Reuters told Reuters. team leader Dietmar Fischer in an interview.

“That way, with a relatively small intervention, we stimulate a very large number of nerves to regenerate and that’s ultimately why the mice can walk again.”

Paralyzed rodents that received the treatment began to walk after two to three weeks, he said.

Treatment involves injecting carriers of genetic information into the brain to produce the protein, called hyper-interleukin-6, according to the university’s website.

The team is studying whether the treatment can be improved.

“We also need to see if our method works on larger mammals. We think of pigs, dogs or primates, for example, ”said Fischer.

“Then if it works there, we should make sure that the therapy is also safe for humans. But it will certainly take many, many years. “

Reporting by Stephane Nitschke and Zuzanna Szymanska; edited by John Stonestreet

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