31 Mar 2021
Team led by Nicolas Granger at the RVC and Liang-Fong Wong at the University of Bristol develops combined cellular and molecular treatment.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
A new type of combined cell treatment to improve recovery after spinal cord injury in companion animals could ultimately be used for humans.
A team of researchers, led by Nicolas Granger at the RVC and Liang-Fong Wong at the University of Bristol, has been working on a combined cellular and molecular treatment.
Paralysis through damage to nerves in the spine can last for life and has no cure.
Currently, cells from the nose – known as olfactory ensheathing cells – can be injected into damaged nerves and has shown improvement in animals, including dogs. The process is safe for humans, but has not yet been tested in a full clinical trial.
Meanwhile, another potential treatment involves injection of the molecule chondroitinase, which experimentally also improves walking in animals and dogs.
Scientists say both are promising therapies, but they have limits and responses have been unpredictable, especially in canine clinical trials.
Basing their work on knowledge of the potential therapeutical benefit of chondroitinase and difficulties on its delivery to the spinal cord, the team developed dog olfactory ensheathing cells able to make and release chondroitinase, with the aim of combining the two treatments into one.
Injection into the spinal cord of this new type of cell transplant in rats improved recovery of hand movements after spinal cord injury. The treated subjects had increased accuracy of reaching and grasping when picking up food rewards compared to control subjects or those receiving cells alone.
The team says the discovery is a promising step forwards and highlights new combinations of treatments could, in the long term, be used to enhance cell transplant therapy.
The next phase of the research will be to test efficacy in real-life injuries.
Jon Prager, postdoctoral researcher at the RVC, said: “Spinal cord injury causes chronic paralysis and incontinence, and remains a major worldwide health care burden, with no regenerative treatment clinically available. This study suggests that our genetically engineered cellular and molecular approach is a feasible combination therapy for spinal cord injury.
“Our findings show that this treatment leads to a modest improvement in rats’ ability to pick up treats and we are incredibly excited to see how the next stage of the research goes. This discovery is an exciting step in uncovering other possible combined treatments that have the potential to improve cell transplant therapy.”
The research was funded by the Langford Trust for Animal Health and Welfare, and Dr Granger receives support from the International Spinal Research Trust (ISRT).
He and Dr Liang-Fong Wong are able to continue this research thanks to the Nathalie Rose Barr PhD studentship provided by the ISRT.
A full paper on the research is available in Experimental Neurology.
