Nerve Cell Regeneration

Spinal Cord Injuries

An illness genetic screening will never predict….

• Who is effected– 82% Male– Common Age per Capita

16-30– Average Age is 26– 53% Single

• Average Lifetime Cost– $950,973

• Leading Causes– Motor Vehicle

Accidents– Sports– Violence– Falling

• Full Recovery– 0.9%

Statistics provided by The National Spinal Cord Injury Association

How it Happens...

• Primary – immediate cell death

• Secondary– In flow of Ca+

– Release of Free Radicals

– Inflammation

• Why can’t it just grow back?– During cell maturity

nerve cells lose the ability to proliferate

*Chart was located from the Miami Project Homepage

Step by Step

The Nerve Cell Structure

• Nerve Cell Body

• Axons

• Dendrites

• Myelin Sheath

A Little More Detail

Central Nervous System

Peripheral Nervous System

Types of Cell Damage

• Nerve Cell Death

• Disruption of Nerve Pathways

• Demyelination

Myelin Sheaths

•Composed of layers of membrane that surround the axon

•Work as an insulator for neurotransmitters

•These membranes are produced by Oligodendrocyte cells.

•Oligodendria doe not regrow.

Schwann Cells

• Stimulate Regeneration

• Not located in the CNS

• Isolated in Peripheral Nerves

• Placed into Guidance Channels

• Myelin?

Possible Therapies• Blocking of myelin-associated glycoprotein

(MAG) with monoclonal antibodies– IN-1 and NT3 (Dr. Martin Schwab)

• Growth Factors– fibroblast growth (FGF)– brain-derived neurotrophic (BGF)– epidermal growth (ENF)– insulin-growth (IGF)

Therapies Continued

• Cellular Adhesion Molecule– L1– combines both growth factor stimulation and

and anti-axonal growth inhibitor

• Transgenic Mouse (Melitta Schachner)– astrocytes express L1– optic nerves regenerated

Possible Therapies

• 4-amino-pyridine– creates an action in certain ion channels– encourages messaging carrying– overstimulates the nervous system– small clinical Trials– effective bird poison

Transplantation of Fetal Cells

• Graft nerve cells that can integrate and mature into the nervous system

• Definite ethical complications– Donor?– unspecialized stem cells– generation of cell lines– rodents

• On January 11,1997 the first human nerve transplant occurred

The Final Slide

Thank You