Immune System Boosts Regeneration of Peripheral Nerves

Regeneration of nerve cells can be accelerated by modulating the immune system, says study. By altering activity of the macrophage cells that respond to injuries, researchers dramatically increased the rate at which nerve processes regrew.

Influencing the macrophages immediately after injury may affect the whole cascade of biochemical events that occurs after nerve damage, potentially eliminating the need to directly stimulate the growth of axons using nerve growth factors. If the results of this first-ever study can be applied to humans, they could one day lead to a new strategy for treating peripheral nerve injuries that typically result from trauma, surgical resection of tumors or radical prostectomy.

Stanford Study Finds Blocking Key Protein Could Halt Age-Related Decline in Immune System
Our immune systems tend to become weaker as we grow old, leaving us vulnerable to infectious diseases and cancer and eroding our ability to benefit from vaccination.

"Both scar formation and healing are the end results of two different cascades of biological processes that result from injuries," said Ravi Bellamkonda, Carol Ann and David D. Flanagan professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering and member of the Regenerative Engineering and Medicine Center at Georgia Tech and Emory University. "In this study, we show that by manipulating the immune system soon after injury, we can bias the system toward healing, and stimulate the natural repair mechanisms of the body."

Beyond nerves, researchers believe their technique could also be applied to help regenerate other tissue – such as bone. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and reported online Sept. 26, 2012, by the journal Biomaterials.

Source-Eurekalert

Breakthrough on Immune System and Brain Tumors Made by Barrow Researchers
A team of researchers has discovered that the immune system reacts differently to different types of brain tissue, shedding light on why cancerous brain tumors are so difficult to treat.

Arm Surgery for Devastating Nerve Injury Could be Improved by New Tool to Measure Outcomes
Research says that the way that clinicians report outcomes of surgery for a traumatic nerve injury involving the arm is not standardized.

Scientists Identify Protein Required to Regrow Injured Nerves in Limbs
Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis have identified a protein that can help injured peripheral nerves to repair and grow by themselves.