This is a summary of a story by Michaela Martinez on Pratt School of Engineering .
Duke researchers have long been developing an injectable material designed to make the part of the brain directly damaged by stroke more suitable for self-repair. In its newest form, early results from attempts to recruit the body's immune system to help in these repairs show promise, although the treatment has only been tested in mice so far.
Every year, millions of people suffer strokes caused by blood clots. Treatments including clot-dissolving drugs and the actual removal of the clot can restore blood flow and preserve threatened brain tissue, but cannot replace damaged tissue.
Duke Engineering researchers have been working toward a soft, gel-like material that can be injected into that damaged space for several years. Instead of trying to replace brain tissue directly, the material encourages the body's own repair systems to get to work.
"Once brain tissue has been lost, restoring blood flow is no longer enough," said Tatiana Segura , the Robert Plonsey Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke. "Our goal is to engineer the injured space so that immune, vascular and neural repair processes can begin to work together."
Segura says the goal isn't to reproduce the brain but to create an environment where the body's cells can work on rebuilding the damaged brain tissue.
Previous iterations have shown promise in building new blood vessels and suppressing inflammation. By adding signals to recruit the body's immune system to the job, the researchers showed even better results. As new blood vessels formed, researchers also saw signs that nerve fibers were growing around the damaged area.
While the findings are promising, researchers note they are preliminary and additional studies are needed to evaluate safety, determine how the different immune-cell populations contribute to recovery, and test the approach in larger and more clinically representative stroke models.
Read the full story on Pratt School of Engineering.
