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Of the thousands of Americans who suffer spinal cord injuries in a given year, two-thirds end up permanently paralyzed. What if the study of salamanders could help these patients walk again?
Researchers at the Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis are pursuing that possibility. Recently, the W.M. Keck Foundation granted the center $1.6 million to research the potential for treatments that could help humans mimic a common amphibian trait.
Salamanders and other amphibians have a knack for regenerating tissue and even lost limbs. Mammals like us can’t, and that difference is key. "Understanding the fundamental mechanisms by which regeneration is retained or lost in these animals will give deep insights into how we might regenerate human tissue," says David L. Stocum, director of the center and a professor of biology in the School of Science at IUPUI.
Researchers will use various experiments that analyze the genes and proteins that trigger regeneration. "This is basic research that precedes drug development," Stocum notes. "Once the mechanisms of regeneration are known, the next step is to translate the discovery into therapies."
The result could be the development of medicines that will improve the lives of spinal cord injury patients.
Regeneration might also transform how we treat cases of severe wounds or lost limbs. Imagine, for instance, a "smart bandage" capable of replacing a lost finger, thus bypassing the need for surgery.
Working with other investigators in the Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, center researchers in the Department of Biology at IUPUI are moving forward with these possibilities thanks to private grants.
"The support we have received from the Keck Foundation, along with prior funding from the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, will enable amphibian researchers in the center to make initial discoveries that could someday be applied at the patient’s bedside," remarks Stocum.
Most spinal cord trauma strikes young, healthy individuals between the ages of 16 and 30. Often the trauma is the result of a sudden physical injury, like a car accident or other form of violence. And paralysis not only limits mobility, it also shortens patients’ lives.
Additionally, loss of appendages or damage to individual tissues is a leading cause of disability.
Some might marvel that new treatments come from something as mundane as a salamander. But they will happen by unlocking the secrets of regeneration within these animals and, in the process, help achieve a better quality of life for us all. That is the ultimate significance and power of private grants that invest in talented and innovative researchers.