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The lab in Zurich has spent many years leading the field of spinal cord injury repair, and more recently has started to investigate aspects of recovery following stroke lesions. The work focuses on the use of antibody treatment which targets Nogo-A, an inhibitory component contributing to the unfavourable conditions for plasticity, regeneration and recovery following lesions to the CNS. The Schwab lab has made a large contribution to research in this area. The lab has extensive expertise in all aspects of performing in vivo models of CNS injury, to include: experience of a large number of lesion paradigms; pump application (for delivery of anti-Nogo-A antibodies for example); broad and precise behavioural tests as a read-out for functional recovery; retro- and anterograde multiple colour tracing to assess anatomical changes post-lesion such as anatomical sprouting and/or regeneration at the lesion site; morphological assessment, of for example the lesion size, and amount of cell death/apoptosis; and immunocytochemical methods to answer specific questions post-lesion. Coupled with this the lab also has experience with molecular biology and cell culture techniques, which could also be brought to the project. The lab will aim at a clinical application of anti-Nogo-A antibodies in a stroke model as soon as more promising data are available from animal models. In the summer of 2006 Phase I clinical trials with acute spinal cord injury patients started. Patients have been treated with human anti-Nogo-A antibodies and until present no side effects have been seen.
Role in ProjectThe Schwab lab at the University of Zürich focus on axonal regeneration and functional repair after stroke and spinal cord injury. In particular we are interested in spontaneous repair, compensatory plastic sprouting and anti-Nogo-A antibody enhanced plasticity after brain and spinal cord injuries. Within ARISE we will be using a variety of techniques (behavioural assessment, constraint induced and rehabilative training, anatomical tracing, MRI, fMRI, VSD, epidural microstimulation and SEP recordings) to investigate the shift of the forelimb motor representation to the hindlimb following forelimb strokes, side switching of the motor map following stroke lesions to the entire motor cortex, and shifts in hindlimb activation following spinal cord injury. Project Leader
Project Staff
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