Advance Reported in Spinal Cord Repair

A study has shown that transplanting genetically modified pig cells into surgically damaged spinal cords of rodents can regenerate the axons of the spinal cord. The study, conducted by researchers from the Yale University School of Medicine (New Haven, CT, USA) and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (also in New Haven), was published in the September issue of Nature Biotechnology.

The data demonstrated that immunoprotected transgenic pig cells survive and contribute significantly to repair of severed spinal cords in rodents. The results further showed that these transgenic pig cells engraft, restore the myelin sheath around axons and contribute to the regeneration of these axons, restoring electrical conductance across the lesion. While complement-mediated rejection of nerve cell xenografts is an important obstacle, Alexion scientists address this problem in two ways. They produce pig cells that reduce or eliminate the expression of certain pig sugars targeted by the triggering antibodies. In addition, they design myelin-producing transgenic pig cells that are covered by a protective shield of human complement inhibitor proteins.

This particular study showed that, following transplantation, these engineered cells survived and restored nerve cell function even after transection, said Dr. Jeffrey D. Kocsis, department of neurology, Yale School of Medicine.



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