How Stem Cell Implants Help Heal Traumatic Brain Injury

[TECH NEWS]

New data spotlights key molecular mechanisms that enable human neural stem cells to assist in recovery from traumatic axonal injury, according to researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), headquartered in Galveston, Texas. UTMB professor Ping Wu, MD, PhD, led the study. Wu explains that, “In this study, we found that our stem cell transplantation both prevents further axonal injury and promotes axonal re-growth, through a number of previously unknown molecular mechanisms.” Researchers report that prior studies suggested neural stem cells secrete a substance known as glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), which appeared to assist injured rat brains in recovery from injury. Using this previous data, researchers reportedly focused their efforts on spotlighting the mechanics behind the process that yields the beneficial effects of GDNF and neural stem cell transplantation. According to the research team, proteomic techniques were used to compare injured rat brains into which neural stem cells had been transplanted to injured rat brains that had not received the transplant.

Jan 16, 2012, Rehab Management / UTMB Health