Science / Medicine : Molecule Prevents Nerve Healing

A newly discovered molecule found in the damaged brains of laboratory rats prevents nerves from regenerating and may be a key to understanding why most victims of brain and spinal injuries fail to recover, researchers said last week. “The identification of a substance which inhibits growth of neurons in areas of tissue damage in the brain is an important first step toward improving the prospect of recovery following injury to the nervous system,” neuroscientist Jerry Silver of Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University wrote in the November issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

The molecule, called proteoglycan, was found along the scar tissue in the brains of laboratory rats and prevented regrowth of nerve cells that might reconnect severed areas of the damaged brain, the researchers said. Previously, it was thought that the scar tissue in a damaged brain or spinal cord was solely responsible for preventing nerve cells from reconnecting, leaving victims with reduced faculties or unusable limbs.

The researchers are testing whether removing proteoglycan could prevent the chemical boundary to regeneration from forming. They said human trials are far in the future.

Closer to fruition, however, might be surgical applications where the molecule would be employed to prevent unwanted scar tissue from forming.