The research conducted on rats was funded in part by a fledgling USF center.
By LISA GREENE
Published October 2, 2004
TAMPA - Rats treated with a type of protein fragment found in the brain grew new nerves in their severed spinal cords and were able to walk again, according to a new study funded in part by the new Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute at the University of South Florida.
The protein also repaired damage to brain cells.
The research was conducted at the University of Helsinki, where the Byrd center has donated about $150,000 to the effort and also is paying part of the salary for Finnish research leader Paivi Liesi. The results were published in Friday's issue of the Journal of Neuroscience Research and mark the first published research paper the Byrd center has participated in.
The fledgling center distributed its first grant funds in January. Construction of its six-story, $20-million home on the USF campus is expected to be complete in spring 2006.
The study's results raise hope that the substance might one day help humans suffering from a broad spectrum of problems, from spinal cord injuries to Alzheimer's and other brain injuries and diseases.
"It is one of the most spectacular results that I've seen in the last five to 10 years, which is why we felt it was important to reach out and set up this collaboration," said Huntington Potter, the center's chief executive officer.
Still, the results are early. More laboratory research must be done before trials of the substance could begin in humans, and those studies also would take years. Much of the research will be done in Finland, but Potter also expects some studies to be done at the Byrd center.
"The work we have in front of us is daunting, but very exciting," Potter said.
In the study, researchers focused on a fragment of a protein, called a peptide, that occurs naturally in the brain and is used to develop neurons. Rats were given a synthetic form of the peptide.
The rats had two forms of injury: severed spinal cords and damage to their brain cells from a toxin released after brain injuries and found in Alzheimer's patients. The rats treated with the peptide recovered and walked, while those that didn't get treated remained paralyzed.
