A few months ago, the science community received fabulous news; The Obama Administration has approved use several stem cell lines and hundreds of others are in the pipeline. In this week’s Journal of Neuroscience, Canadian scientists are utilizing neural stem/progenitor cells to regenerate damaged nerve tissue following a severe spinal cord injury. Typically, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) are present within the central nervous system following a nervous system injury and are somewhat indicative of damage. In this study, the scientists infused an enzyme called chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) to target CSPGs, which not only perturbed CSPG activity, but markedly increased the survival and migration of the neural stem/progenitor cells co-grafted with growth factors into the injured area. Someday, this new neurotechnology, in addition to using light and channelrhodopsin receptors, to stimulate nerve tissue growth will not only help those retired football players and elderly individuals with debilitating spinal cord injuries, but hopefully will be utilized to eradicate neurodegenerative disorders that leave individuals paralyzed.
ResearchBlogging.org

Soheila Karimi-Abdolrezaee, Eftekhar Eftekharpour, Jian Wang, Desiree Schut, and Michael G. Fehlings (2010). Synergistic Effects of Transplanted Adult Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells, Chondroitinase, and Growth Factors Promote Functional Repair and Plasticity of the Chronically Injured Spinal Cord Journal of Neuroscience : 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3111-09.2010