Found drug to help treat paralysis

1. Found: Drug to help treat
paralysis

2. Contd..
A new compound which shows
promise of restoring functions lost
by paralysing injury to the spinal
cord has been developed by
scientists.
The drug encourages nerves in the
spinal cord to grow and repair
injuries, which can help paralyzed
people regain muscle movement
and possibly let them walk again.
Developed by Case Western
Reserve scientists and called
intracellular sigma peptide, the drug
helped lab animals with severe
spinal injury recover the ability to
urinate or move, or both, it said.
More work is needed, but the
scientists behind ISP said the
results boosted hopes for a future
therapy for humans.

3. Contd..
Nerve fibres try to cross the injury site and
reconnect with other fibres, but become
trapped at the scar site by sticky proteins
called proteoglycans. ISP is designed to
act on the receptor on the surface of the
nerve cells. Like a switch, it turns off a
response to the proteoglycans that causes
the blockage.