“The axons also grew 10 times the length of axons in any previous study and, importantly, the regeneration of these axons resulted in significant functional improvement.” “Using this method, after six weeks, the number of axons emerging from the injury site exceeded by 200-fold what had ever been seen before,” said Mark Tuszynski, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the UC San Diego Department of Neurosciences and director of the UC San Diego Center for Neural Repair, who headed the study. The gel was then applied to the injury site in rats with completely severed spinal cords. The scientists embedded neural stem cells in a matrix of fibrin (a protein key to blood clotting that is already used in human neuron procedures), mixed with growth factors to form a gel. The work will be published in the journal Cell on Friday (Sept. Importantly, stem cells across species exhibit these properties. The study also proved that at least some types of adult CNS axons can overcome a normally inhibitory growth environment to grow over long distances. Their research revealed that early stage neurons have the ability to survive and extend axons to form new, functional neuronal relays across an injury site in the adult central nervous system (CNS). SAN DIEGO - In a study at the University of California, San Diego and VA San Diego Healthcare, researchers were able to regenerate “an astonishing degree” of axonal growth at the site of severe spinal cord injury in rats. Our hearing loss fact sheet has more information about stem cell research into hearing loss, including a few videos about the work we fund. “It is virtually impossible to diagnose a reduction of auditory nerve fibers in hearing-loss patients.” While the study shows the potential of stem cells to replace auditory nerve fibers, says Stefan Heller, who studies hair-cell function and regeneration at the Stanford School of Medicine, the results will be difficult to translate to patients. The story goes on to quote Stefan Hellar from Stanford University, who has a CIRM-funded project to generate the hair cells that first detect sound (those are his embryonic stem cell-derived ear hair cells above). But much more work would be required to bring this idea to fruition. The stem-cell treatment could eventually be combined with cochlear implants to give more deaf patients the ability to hear. That’s where this new technology would fit in. But if the nerves that transmit signals from the cochlear implant to the brain are damaged then the person still can’t hear. This kind of damage can be aided in some cases by cochlear implants. Most people with hearing loss have damage to the hair cells within the ear that first detect sound. This work, which was published in this week’s advanced online edition of Nature, differens from some other stem cell-related hearing projects in that it focused on the nerves that carry sound sensation from the ear to the brain. It just so happens that the rodents hear in roughly the same sound range as us humans and so their ears are a good model for human hearing. One note: the scientists weren’t driven by a concern for gerbil hearing. This week researchers at the University of Sheffield in England used cells derived from embryonic stem cells to help restore hearing in gerbils. Ear hair cell derived from embryonic stem cells | Stefan Heller, Stanford University School of Medicine
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