Nervtransplantat-bypass – en ny kirurgimetod för ryggmärgsskadereparation

There is no intervention or treatment for persons that suffer a spinal cord injury and the functional loss is irreversible.

Peripheral nerve graft (PNG) transplantation as a means of spinal cord repair has recently been in clinical trial for complete injuries, but necessitates surgical removal of spinal scar tissue.

Here, we aim to develop a PNG therapy bypassing the injury site for incomplete injuries, in different shapes and spinal levels. With a focus on clinical translation, we develop the PNG surgery techniques first in mice then in rat and pigs.

In particular, we will steer both sensory and motor axon growth directly to their target neurons, dramatically shortening the journey through the growth-abating CNS environment.

This would effectively make PNG transplants a treatment option for all types of traumatic spinal cord injuries.Moreover, we will investigate the fundamental features of the 3-step axon-regeneration through PNGs, in association to disease-associated microglia and in combination with growth promoting interventions.

We will monitor and manipulate axon growth with transgenic mice, in addition to clinically applicable treatments.

Furthermore, microglial phenotypes and its consequences to the spinal microenvironment in mice will be compared to unique human spinal scar tissue using state-of-the-art proteomic and transcriptomic analysis.

Overall, this is information will be valuable to the field at large and may reveal new combination treatments for PNG repair.