Spinal cord injury inflammation process assessed by scientistsRSS Feed

Researchers have shed new light on the process of inflammation that occurs after spinal cord injuries.

Scientists at the German Cancer Research Centre found that the signalling molecule CD95L causes the process in injured tissue and prevents it healing, Science Centric reports.

They discovered that when the molecule was "switched off" in mice, the injured spinal cord healed and the rodents more effectively regained their ability to move.

The team, led by Dr Ana Martin-Villalba, say that CD95L activates immune cells to become mobile and migrate from the blood stream into the injured spinal cord - apparently boosting the tissue-damaging inflammatory reaction.

"We assume that CD95L causes harmful inflammatory reactions in the human body too," Dr Martin-Villalba commented.

Meanwhile, researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York appear to have made a stem cell treatment breakthrough.

Professor Badri Roysam and colleagues say they have discovered a new method for predicting how stem cells will divide with 99 per cent accuracy.

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