Biomaterial developed at UCLA helps regrow brain tissue after stroke in mice

A new stroke-healing gel created by UCLA researchers helped regrow neurons and blood vessels in mice whose brains had been damaged by strokes.The finding is reported May 21 in Nature Materials.“We tested this in laboratory mice to determine if it would repair the brain and lead to recovery in a model of stroke,” said Dr. S. Thomas Carmichael, professor of neurology at theDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “The study indicated that new brain tissue can be regenerated in what was previously just an inactive brain scar after stroke.”The results suggest that such an approach could some day be used to treat people who have had a stroke, said Tatiana Segura, a former professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UCLA who collaborated on the research. Segura is now a professor at Duke University.The brain has a limited capacity for recovery after stroke. Unlike the liver, skin and some other organs, the brain does not regenerate new connections, blood vessels or tissue structures after it is damaged. Instead, dead brain tissue is absorbed, which leaves a cavity devoid of blood vessels, neurons or axons — the thin nerve fibers that project from neurons.To see if healthy tissue surrounding the cavity could be coaxed into healing the stroke injury, Segura engineered a hydrogel that, when injected into the cavity, thickens to create a scaffolding into which blood vessels and neurons can grow. The gel is infused with medications that stimulate blood vessel growth ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news