Scientists discover gene signature linked to spinal cord injury

According to recent research, scientists have determined a gene signature that is linked to severity of spinal cord injury in animals and humans.

discovery of key genes that are switched on or off in response to spinal cord injury could inform development of biomarkers that predict recovery and possibly pinpoint new targets for treatment. At moment, re are widely available treatments capable of immediately restoring motor and sensory function after injury. A major barrier is lack of understanding of complex casce of biological processes that occur when a spinal cord injury happens.

Senior author Michael Skinnider said, "Our understanding of pathophysiological processes triggered by spinal cord injury is fragmentary. We set out to integrate data from deces of small-scale studies using a systems biology approach."

team first reviewed past experiments to find genes associated with response to spinal cord injury, searching through more than 500 studies. y found that 695 unique human genes that h been linked with response to spinal cord injury and, of se, 151 were linked in more than one study. Furr analysis showed that genes are biologically and functionally related, coding for groups of protein molecules that physically interact with one ar.

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To find if se genes truly reflect functional changes after spinal cord injury, team constructed a network of genes from healthy human spinal cords and integrated this data with those determined from experimental studies. y found that two groups of genes included a high number of genes that h been previously pinpointed in experiments as important in response to spinal cord injury.

y next looked at five experimental studies of gene expression in mice and rats after spinal cord injury to see wher se gene groups were significantly altered. "We have developed an integrated, systems-level approach to understand mechanisms of spinal cord injury," concludes le author Jordan Squair.

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full findings are present in journal- ELife.