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Human 3D Spinal Cord Implants Restore Walking in Mice With

Long-Term Paralysis

Scientists at the Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology, Shmunis School of Biomedicine and

Cancer Research, and the Faculty of Biomedicine Engineering at Tel Aviv University produce practical
3D spinal implants from human tissue samples through a process that mimics the spinal
development of human embryos. The implants used in the laboratory model of long-term chronic
paralysis successfully restored walking ability in 80% of the tests. Dvir states: There are millions of
people around the world who are paralyzed due to spinal injury, and there is still no effective
treatment for their condition ... We hope to reach the stage of clinical trials in humans within the
next few years, and ultimately get these patients back on their feet . " The researchers reported on
their results in Advanced Science, in a paper titled, " Regenerating the injured spinal cord at the
chronic phase by engineered iPSCsderived 3D neuronal networks." 

Healthy neural tissue around the injury site contains cues that could promote tissue repair, but the
lack of what the researchers described as "a permissive microenvironment" for cell growth in
the scar, along with the absence of ECMsecreted factors that would direct neuronal
outgrowth, results in very poor regeneration potential and permanent neural dysfunction. "
However, the scar formed at the chronic phase is not a permissive microenvironment for cell
or biomaterial engraftment or for tissue assembly. ” The researchers hypothesized that mimicking
embryonic development by applying what they describe as "...a specific spinal cord motor neuron
differentiation protocol in a 3D dynamic microenvironment..." would provide the cells not only
differentiation cues, but also signals for appropriate tissue formation with natural hallmarks. We
then encapsulated the stem cells in the hydrogel and in a process that mimics the embryonic
development of the spinal cord, we turned the cells into 3D implants of neuronal networks
containing motor neurons . " 

The authors further noted, " Throughout the in vitro cultivation stage, the cells and the hydrogel
showed a synergistic effect, mimicking the process of spinal cord formation in the embryo. The
resulting human spinal cord implants were tested in murine lab models of paralysis. As a proof of
concept, researchers first successfully tested implants in a mouse model with acute injury and
paralysis. They also tested implants in mouse models with chronic or long-term injury and
paralysis. " We have demonstrated the ability of implants to repair injured spinal cord in the acute
phase and have proceeded to evaluate the ability to regenerate tissue in a more clinically
relevant model, " the author emphasized. Dvir further noted, " The model animals underwent a
rapid rehabilitation process, at the end of which they could walk quite well ... There are millions of
people around the world who are paralyzed due to spinal injury, and there is still no effective
treatment for their condition.

https://www.genengnews.com/topics/translational-medicine/human-3d-spinal-cord-implants-restore-
walking-in-mice-with-long-term-paralysis/