Related to this discussion is http://www.neurosci.cn/news/upload/20141201-986-477.pdf whose article abstract is below. We see discussion/results of ChABC+stem cell testing in UK/China.
Quote:
Combination treatment with chondroitinase ABC in spinal cord injury?breaking the barrier
Rong-Rong Zhao, James W Fawcett
Brain Repair Centre, University of Cambridge, UK
Corresponding author: James W Fawcett. E-mail: jf108@cam.ac.uk
? Shanghai institutes for Biological Sciences, CAS and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
After spinal cord injury (SCi), re-establishing functional circuitry in the damaged central nervous system (CNS)
faces multiple challenges including lost tissue volume, insufficient intrinsic growth capacity of adult neurons,
and the inhibitory environment in the damaged CNS. Several treatment strategies have been developed
over the past three decades, but successful restoration of sensory and motor functions will probably
require a combination of approaches to address different aspects of the problem. Degradation of the
chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans with the chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) enzyme removes a regeneration
barrier from the glial scar and increases plasticity in the CNS by removing perineuronal nets. its mechanism
of action does not clash or overlap with most of the other treatment strategies, making ChABC an attractive
candidate as a combinational partner with other methods. in this article, we review studies in rat SCi models
using ChABC combined with other treatments including cell implantation, growth factors, myelin-inhibitory
molecule blockers, and ion channel expression. We discuss possible ways to optimize treatment protocols
for future combinational studies. To date, combinational therapies with ChABC have shown synergistic
effects with several other strategies in enhancing functional recovery after SCi. These combinatorial
approaches can now be developed for clinical application.
