Polylaminin, a polymeric form of laminin, promotes regeneration after spinal cord injury.
Regeneration of spinal cord injury (SCI) is a major topic of biomedical research. Laminin is an extracellular matrix protein implicated in neural development and regeneration, but despite that, there are no reports of exogenous laminin contributing to improve the outcome of experimental SCI. Here we investigated whether a biomimetic polymer of laminin assembled on pH acidification, henceforth called polylaminin, could be used to treat SCI in rats. Acute local injection of polylaminin, but not of nonpolymerized laminin, improved motor function after thoracic compression, partial or complete transection. In the latter case, the BBB score for open field locomotion 8 wk after lesion increased from 4.2 ± 0.48 to 8.8 ± 1.14 in animals treated with polylaminin of human origin. Accordingly, neurons retrogradely labeled from the sublesion stump were detected in the spinal cord and brain stem, indicating regrowth of short and long fibers across a complete transection. Polylaminin also played an unsuspected anti-inflammatory role, which underlies the early onset of its positive effects on locomotion from the first week after treatment. The beneficial effects of polylaminin were not observed in animals treated with the nonpolymerized protein or vehicle only. We propose that polylaminin is a promising therapeutic agent to treat human SCI.
Menezes
Karla
K
Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
de Menezes
João Ricardo Lacerda
JR
Nascimento
Marcos Assis
MA
Santos
Raphael de Siqueira
Rde S
Coelho-Sampaio
Tatiana
T
D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001369:Axons / Q000187:drug effects; D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007797:Laminin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects; D011108:Polymers / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D007797:Laminin; D011108:Polymers