Re-Engineered Enzyme Could Help Reverse Damage from Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

"One of the major challenges to healing after [a] nerve injury is the formation of a glial scar."

A glial scar is formed by cells and biochemicals that knit together tightly around the damaged nerve. In the short term, this protective environment shields the nerve cells from further injury, but in the long term it can inhibit nerve repair.

About two decades ago, scientists discovered that a natural enzyme known as chondroitinase ABC - produced by a bacterium called Proteus vulgaris - can selectively degrade some of the biomolecules that make up the glial scar.

By changing the environment around the damaged nerve, chondroitinase ABC has been shown to promote regrowth of nerve cells. In animal models, it can even lead to regaining some lost function.

But progress has been limited by the fact that chondroitinase ABC is not very stable in the places where researchers want to use it.

"It's stable enough for the environment that the bacteria live in, but inside the body it is very fragile," says [senior author and University of Toronto Engineering professor Molly] Shoichet. "It aggregates, or clumps together, which causes it to lose activity. This happens faster at body temperature than at room temperature. It is also difficult to deliver chondroitinase ABC because it is susceptible to chemical degradation and shear forces typically used in formulations."

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