Chondroitinase Gene Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to permanent paralysis below the level of injury. Environmental factors within the injured spinal cord have been shown to strongly participate in regenerative failure. Shortly after injury, the formation of a glial-fibroblastic scar develops at the injury site. Besides isolating the injury area and stabilizing inflammation and cellular damage, the glial scar is also an important source of both the physical and molecular barriers affecting axonal regeneration. The responding reactive astrocytes are known to secrete a group of potent axonal growth-inhibitory matrix molecules known as chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs). The inhibitory nature of these CSPGs can be dramatically attenuated using the bacterial enzyme chondroitinase ABC. Since chondroitinase rapidly degrades, long-term studies require either (1) multiple injections of purified protein, (2) expression of the chondroitinase transgene, or (3) biodegradable scaffold to release the protein slowly. Of these options, the latter two are preferred. We have developed an easy and rapid method of analyzing the bioactivity of chondroitinase released by genetically altered cells or from a biodegradable platform.
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news