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Spinal Cord Injury Research at the Reeve-Irvine Research Center

Learn about groundbreaking research on regenerating nerve cells to treat spinal cord injuries. Discover the potential of inhibiting PTEN activity and restoring function through nerve grafting and stem cell therapy.

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Spinal Cord Injury Research at the Reeve-Irvine Research Center

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  1. Spinal Cord Injury Research at the Reeve-Irvine Research Center SOCCCD Collaborative 2010-2011 CTE Grant Funded Externship Adam Atallah- Anatomy and Physiology Teacher Woodbridge High School Irvine Unified School District March 19, 2011

  2. Meet the Scientists Forum at the RIRC • Seven scientists presented their work. (5 listed below) Oswald Steward, Ph.D. - Director & Professor, Reeve-Irvine Research Center Aileen Anderson, Ph.D. - Associate Professor, Reeve-Irvine Research Center Brian Cummings, Ph.D. - Associate Professor, Reeve-Irvine Research Center Hans Keirstead, Ph.D. - Associate Professor, Reeve-Irvine Research Center Jerry Silver, Ph.D. – Professor, Department of Neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University

  3. A picture from the seminar

  4. Oswald Steward, Ph.D. - Director & Professor, Reeve-Irvine Research Center • Dr. Steward spoke about his research on the PTEN gene. • PTEN (a phosphatase and tensin homolog), which controls a molecular pathway called mTOR that is a key regulator of cell growth. PTEN activity is low early during development, allowing cell proliferation. PTEN then turns on when growth is completed, inhibiting mTOR and precluding any ability to regenerate. • Inhibiting PTEN activity allows nerve cells to regenerate. This could have huge implication for spinal cord injury treatment.

  5. Jerry Silver, Ph.D. – Professor, Department of Neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University • Dr. Silver’s research focuses on the role of extrinsic factors in guiding developing and regenerating axons along their proper pathways within the brain and spinal cord of mammals. • He spoke about how his research on nerve grafting has been able to restore some function in the diaphragms of SCI rats.

  6. Hans Keirstead, Ph.D. - Associate Professor, Reeve-Irvine Research Center • Dr. Keirstead’s lab has developed therapies to limit secondary degeneration and enhance regeneration of the spinal cord following acute and sub-acute spinal cord injuries. • They also deal with stem cell derivatives in restoring spinal cord function in injured patients.

  7. Some cool stuff I saw during the breakout session of the seminar In this clip you will see the work of one of the graduate students working at the RIRC. He has made a glove that assists in physical therapy of SCI patients to strengthen the muscles used for grabbing and pinching items.

  8. Some cool stuff I saw during the breakout session of the seminar In this clip you will see the work of one of the associate professors, Zoran Nenadic of the engineering school at UCI. It allows SCI patients to control a robotic glove with only their thoughts

  9. Hans Keirstead, Ph.D. - Associate Professor, Reeve-Irvine Research Center • I got a chance to sit down with Dr. Keirstead to discuss his research.

  10. Oligodendrocytes • Myelin making cells of the central nervous system. • Myelin is the material that insulates nerve cells.

  11. SCI and oligodendrocytes • After a spinal cord injury the brain loses connection to any nerves below the lesion.

  12. SCI and oligodendrocytes • A misconception about this is that the blunt force trauma causes most of the loss of function of the spinal cord. • In truth, it is not the blunt force trauma to the spinal cord that causes the majority of the loss of function. • The inflammation after the injury causes the death of oligodendrocytes, thus rendering all nerves around the blunt force trauma effectively useless.

  13. Dr. Kierstead’s work • Through 9 years of work and $45 million dollars in funding, Dr. Keirstead and Geron pharmaceuticals were able to start the first clinical trails implanting stem cell derived oligodendrocytes into human SCI subjects. • This has been found to restore a large amount of spinal cord function in animal models.

  14. Future research • Dr. Kierstead is now working on creating stem cell derived motor neurons and using them to restore spinal cord function in SCI patients.

  15. My classroom • I have already talked about what I have learned from the SCI seminar and from my interview of Dr. Kierstead. I have also shown the two videos in this presentation to my students. • This is on the cutting edge and it makes my students feel like the things that they are learning in class can be put to practical use.

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