Harnessing the immune system to treat traumatic brain injury in mice

Scientists from the University of Birmingham have shown that a brain-penetrating candidate drug currently in development as a cancer therapy can foster regeneration of damaged nerves after spinal trauma. The research, published today in Clinical and Translational Medicine , used cell and animal models to demonstrate that when taken orally the candidate drug, known as AZD1390, can block the response to DNA damage in nerve cells and promote regeneration of damaged nerves, so restoring sensory and motor function after spinal injury. The announcement comes weeks after the same research team showed a different investigational drug (AZD1236) can reduce damage after spinal cord injury, by blocking the inflammatory response. Both studies were supported by AstraZeneca’s Open Innovations Programme, which shares compounds, tools, technologies and expertise with the scientific community to advance drug discovery and development. Read the full article here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220712102650.htm

Scientists from the University of California, Irvine have discovered that an injury to one part of the brain changes the connections between nerve cells across the entire brain. The new research was published this week in Nature Communications. Every year in the United States, nearly two million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Survivors can live with lifelong physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities. Currently, there are no treatments. One of the biggest challenges for neuroscientists has been to fully understand how a TBI alters the cross-talk between different cells and brain regions. Read full article here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/06/220617143432.htm

A new study provides for the first time the surprising evidence that four common nonexcitatory amino acids that usually make proteins which are essential to brain function, instead cause irreversible, destructive swelling of both the astrocytes that support neurons and the neurons themselves in the aftermath of stroke, TBI. Read the whole story here.

University of Rochester researchers have been at the forefront of efforts to understand how blows to the head impact the brain, including how concussions change brain structure . Now researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience have found that kids who experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI), even a mild one, have more emotional and behavioral problems than kids who do not. “These hits to the head are hard to study because much of it depends on recall of an injury since the impacts do not all require a visit to a doctor,” said Daniel Lopez, a Ph.D. candidate in the Epidemiology program and first author of the study out today in NeuroImage. “But being able to analyze longitudinal data from a large cohort and ask important questions like this gives us valuable information into how a TBI, even a mild one, impacts a developing brain.” Read the whole story here.

While the role of the blood-brain barrier has long been appreciated for its ability to maintain precise control over what molecules can enter the nervous system, very little is known about how the cells that form the barrier influence the function of the nervous system. “What we know currently about the blood-brain barrier is mostly that we don’t know much beyond the basics,” says Buck Institute professor Pejmun Haghighi, PhD, who has uncovered a new role for these cells. Read the whole article here