I. Can Science Make Nerves Regrow? By Nigel Hawkes--The Times (August, 1995)

Last year scientists at Kyoto University (Japan) grafted spinal nerve tissue from rat fetuses that reportedly formed links to the spinal cord, indistinguishable from normal. Scientists in Zurich used neurotrophin-3 in conjunction with other substances designed to eliminate growth inhibitors, regenerating 5 to 10% of nerve fibers in adult rats.

Professor Gerald Schneider of MIT suggests that the failure of nerve fibers to regenerate is genetically programmed. They are programmed to develop only in the embryonic stage of life.

II. The Cutting Edge--Learning to Walk, Byte by Byte By Kathleen Wiegner In Development (July 26, 1995)

After 13 years of clinical testing and having recently won FDA approval, more than 300 patients with SCI have learned to walk again with the Parastep System developed at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Inventor Daniel Graupe explains that the system is not a cure but SCIs can now stand up, reach into a cupboard and talk to others at eye level. The system is built around a microcomputer that sends electrical pulses to the patients legs by electrodes that cause the muscles to contract. Sigmedics Inc. of Northfield, Illinois manufactures and markets the system.

III. HEDGEHOG Articles from CELL and NATURE (June. 1995)

A single molecule called hedgehog has been successfully used to generate brain cells in the ventral forebrain of vertebrate animals. It had previously been demonstrated that hedgehog generates spinal cord neurons. Professors T. Edlund and T.M. Jessell concluded that sonic hedgehog can induce distinct neurons and is expressed along the entire length of the embryonic neural tube. By applying hedgehog to animal embryonic tissue, scientists generated both motor neurons and an underlying structure called floor plate.

Dr. A.P. Mahon and Professor Thomas Jessell describe how hedgehog can induce different neural tissues based upon the molecule's concentration near the precursor cells, thus showing motor neuron induction specifically.

Dr. Heidi Wyle of Ontology Inc. is using the Harvard and Columbia research to first generate large quantities of dopamine-producing neurons to treat Parkinson patients.

IV. Biotechnology Offers Hope for Spinal Cord Injuries By John Sterling Genetic Engineering News (June 15, 1995)

Cocktails of compounds might soon help repair some damaged spinal cord systems. Acordia Therapeutics Inc. of San Diego, plans to implant cells containing genetically engineered growth factors into injured spinal cord areas.

V. Business Wire

A. Boston Life Sciences is working with the newly discovered CNS growth factor Axogenesis Factor 1 (AF-1) which acts specifically on CNS nerve cells to promote axon growth over great distances. Dr. Marc Lanser appears enthusiastic about its application to traumatic spinal cord paralysis.

B. The direct injection of another protein called N-CAM (neural cell adhesion molecule), developed by Joanna Daniloff at Louisiana State University, has been demonstrated to cause regrowth of damaged nerves ..."within 10 days of application, the treated rats were back up on all four legs and within 30 days they had returned to normal. Their nerves had completely regenerated and reattached to their muscles," she said.

C. Mason Laboratories demonstrated the first successful commercial scale infusion of a biopharmaceutical compound directly to the nervous system in animals. President Michael Wyand explains that they have already extended this capability to intraventricular administration.

VI. Regeneron

Under new CEO Roy Vagelos (formerly CEO of Merck & Co.) and their world-renowned Nobel Laureate scientists, Regeneron has continued their pursuit of novel receptor tyrosine kinases, known as orphan receptors because their ligands (or growth factors that bind them) have yet to be identified. Regeneron scientists describe these ligands as ELF as they are part of the EPH-receptor family. Apparently soluble forms of ELFs can be activated by deliberate clustering, allowing the ligands to be evaluated for biological activity and potential therapeutic application. Thus, diverse cell types as dopaminergic neurons and endothelial cells could prove to be important targets of ELFs.

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