Endogenous stimulation and exogenous application of neurotrophic factors to reduce secondary damage in model of spinal cord compression

Principal investigator: Nadežda Lukáčová
Duration of project: 1.1.2014 / 31.12.2016
Project registration number: 2/0173/14

 

Annotation:

One of the main objectives of spinal cord injury research is to restore neural connections. The goal of present project is to examine changes in the intensity and extent of axonal damage in motor pathways and in functional recovery after spinal cord compression after

1) exogenous application of neurotrophic factors, 2

) stimulation of endogenous neurotrophic factors by application of non-peptide agonist angiotensin AT2R,

3) application of 3D scaffold created using biodegradable composite porous membrane prepared from chitosan, and

4) combination therapy (the most effective exogenous/endogenous stimulation of growth factors and biodegradable composite). To quantify these changes, the markers for overgrowth of axons, demylinization, inflammatory response,apoptosis and oxidative/nitrosative stress will be analysed. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed therapy for signal transmission over long conductive spinal systems, the suitable markers will be applied.