Abstract
The ultimate goal of the speaker’s lab is to understand the basic biology that underlies regeneration failure in the adult spinal cord and then use this knowledge to develop strategies to maximally overcome axonal dieback and regeneration failure after cord injury in order to promote functional repair. An especially exciting development is their recent demonstration that combines the classical use of segments of autologous peripheral nerves as “bridges” to bypass a hemisection lesion of the adult rat spinal cord combined with inhibitory matrix modification via chondroitinase at the Peripheral Nervous System/Central Nervous System interfaces, allow regenerating axons to exit the bridge, form functional synapses, and restore useful movement to the once paralyzed forelimb as well as remarkably robust functional recovery to the diaphragm. The lab is now showing for the first time that a novel modification of this strategy in a complete thoracic transection injury model and with the further addition of the trophic factor FGF can allow for an unprecedented amount of regeneration of certain brainstem neurons well past the graft site all the way to lumbo-sacral levels with restoration of near normal bladder control. The speaker’s research strategy shows clearly, for the first time, that long distance regeneration, with appropriate re-formation of functional connections, can be achieved in the adult after catastrophic spinal cord injury providing real hope that people are now entering an era where strategies for providing functional benefit in animal models of spinal cord injury are sufficiently robust that there should be optimism for translational success.
About the speaker
Prof Jerry Silver received his PhD from Case Western Reserve University in 1974 and was the recipient of the Herbert S. Steuer Memorial Award for Meritorious Original Research in Anatomy. He did post-doctoral work at Harvard University in the Department of Neurosciences at The Children’s Hospital and in the Neuropathology Department at Harvard Medical School. He has served on a variety of National Institutes of Health study sections since 1982 including the Neurobiology Review Group, Neurology B2, The Visual Sciences C Study Section, and the Clinical Neurology, Neurotransmitters and Transplantation Study Section and has served as lead or senior author on more than 150 publications. He has also served on a number of editorial boards including the journals Glia, The Journal of Neurocytology, Developmental Neurobiology, The Journal of Neuroscience and Experimental Neurology. He is currently Professor in the Department of Neurosciences at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Over the past several years, Prof Silver’s lab has focused on the Glial-derived extracellular matrix and the inhibitory role it plays following injury. Their ultimate goal is to develop strategies to overcome inhibitory molecules and axonal dieback after injury in order to promote functional regeneration. An especially exciting development is their recent demonstration that combining the classical use of segments of autologous peripheral nerves as “bridges” to (a) bypass a hemisection lesion of the adult rat spinal cord combined with inhibitory matrix modification via chondroitinase at the Peripheral Nervous System/Central Nervous System interfaces, (b) allow regenerating axons to exit the bridge, (c) form functional synapses, and (d) restore useful movement to the once paralyzed forelimb as well as remarkably robust functional recovery to the diaphragm. This new strategy shows clearly, for the first time, that long distance regeneration, with appropriate re-formation of functional connections, can be achieved in the adult after spinal cord injury.
Prof Silver is a recipient of several prestigious awards including the Ameritec Prize, the Christopher Reeve-Joan Irvine Research Medal (The Reeve-Irvine Medal), the Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award and the Erica Nader Award. He regularly reviews articles for over 35 high impact journals and he reviews grants for 18 national and international organizations. In 2011, Prof Silver was honored to become a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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