«For 20 years, we have been applying technologies to prevent
glial scarring in hopes of promoting nerve fiber regeneration, repair and recovery, but never observed a positive effect,» said Sofroniew, a professor of neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Not exact matches
Co-author Ken Poss of Duke University said that,
in mammals,
glial cells have traditionally been thought of as the
scar - causing cells that present a roadblock for spinal cord repair.
In addition to inflammation, previous microelectrode brain implants made of silicon or microwire have caused neuronal death and glial scarring, which is damage to connective tissue in the nervous syste
In addition to inflammation, previous microelectrode brain implants made of silicon or microwire have caused neuronal death and
glial scarring, which is damage to connective tissue
in the nervous syste
in the nervous system.
«The most obvious function of
glial cells has been related to their role
in forming
scar tissue to prevent the spread of injury and neuronal degeneration, but so much about their role
in the brain is unknown.»
Neuroscientists have long believed that
scar tissue formed by
glial cells — the cells that surround neurons
in the central nervous system — impedes damaged nerve cells from regrowing after a brain or spinal cord injury.
The research also revealed
glial scars» beneficial role
in an experiment
in which the scientists softly flog injured neurons into regenerating — a strategy Sofroniew likens to a «carrot and a stick» approach.
«There are more reactive
glial cells and fewer functional neurons
in the injury site,» Chen said, «so we hypothesized that we might be able to convert
glial cells
in the
scar into functional neurons at the site of injury
in the brain.
hGDAsCNTF also expressed high levels of neurite - outgrowth inhibitory chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, phosphacan and CSPG4, as well as the transcription factor Olig2 - all of which have been found to be upregulated
in glial scar associated astrocytes.
For more than a century, scientists thought that
glial cells were responsible for
scar formation; now, however, a paper published
in Science shows that spinal cord
scar tissue largely derives from a completely unexpected type of cell called a pericyte, opening new opportunities for the treatment of damaged nerve tissue.Lesions to the brain or spinal cord rarely heal fully, which leads to permanent functional impairment.