New Research Shows That Microfibers Can Reconstruct The Spine

Researchers in the United States have developed tests to regenerate the mature nerve cells in the spines of rodents. Their discoveries reveal how glial cells, the most abundant type of cells in the nervous system, can be transformed into more primitive cells. These new cells then become new mature nerve cells.

The regeneration of adult nerve cells is an important achievement. This can improve the recovery of patients with spinal conditions and injuries.

Most notably, one of the study’s authors, Chun-Li Zhang, has said they have laid the groundwork for regenerative medicine for spinal cord injury.

Cellular regeneration can be used to create new nerve cells after bone marrow injury.

Once the results are confirmed by future studies, these strategies could pave the way for using a patient’s own glial cells. This would avoid the need for transplantation or immunosuppressive therapy.

Spinal injury

As you probably know, spinal cord injury can cause irreversible neural network damage. In severe cases, this can therefore impair motor and sensory functioning.

It’s also important to keep in mind that a spine doesn’t necessarily have to lose a whole section to suffer a loss of functionality. It is common for much of the bone marrow to be undamaged after spinal injury. 

Contrary to what you might think, spinal cord injuries are not always directly related to back or neck injuries. The intervertebral discs can become damaged, conditions can affect the spine and more.

In fact, it is perfectly normal to have damage to the neck or back, but not to have damage to the spinal cord.

Grants from the National Center for Paraplegics

The National Center for Paraplegics , located in Toledo, Ohio, is co-funded by the Health Service of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). The hospital has received five million euros from the European Commission.

In addition, European funding has been used for a project known as neurofibers .

It involves the study and development of bio-functional microfibers that can treat spinal injuries.

The Neurofibre Project

This project was one of twelve projects selected from over 200 submitted to the  European Program of Future Emerging Technologies (FET) .

dr. Jorge Eduardo Collazos is the director and coordinator of the project. A consortium consisting of seven research groups from six European countries is helping him with this.

He is also the head of the  Laboratory for Neural Repair and Biomaterials at the National Paraplegic Hospital.

• The neurofiber project will last four years, from January 2017 to December 2020.
• Developing biologically safe and effective devices requires electro-active support for central nervous system regeneration. This also applies to the activation of neural circuits in the spine itself.

Research on this project is twofold: on the one hand, it improves the properties of microfibres. On the other hand, they are studying the utility of this new technology to enhance neural growth.

In addition, the project coordinators stated that the research will focus on:

• Testing to investigate biocompatibility.
• The regenerative response to the nervous tissue.
• The functional recovery time of motor and sensory skills.

The contribution of surgeons is an important part of the project. Among other things, they will be able to develop new surgical techniques.

Microfibre neuroprosthesis

Thus, with these microfibers, more effective neuroprostheses can be developed and integrated into the spine.

One of the benefits of this is  greater sensitivity when stimulated. Another advantage is receiving signals from neurons through the use of metal electrodes.

In addition, it reduces harm to the patient.

In summary, microfibers have enormous potential that we have yet to discover and use. At the same time, while they can regenerate tissue, they also help activate the growth of the glial cells and neurons.