June 2026
Groundbreaking new research funded in part by Spinal Research has revealed that damage to nerve connections in the brain and spinal cord, long considered irreversible, may one day be repaired.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have successfully grown miniature brain and spinal cord circuits in the laboratory using human stem cells, allowing them to study how nerve fibres regenerate after injury.
Their findings, published in Cell Reports, show that the loss of the nervous system’s ability to repair itself may not be permanent and could potentially be switched back on.
As we develop and grow from embryo to foetus to infant, our nerve cells (neurons) form connections, allowing information to be transmitted between the brain and the spinal cord. A key component of each neuron is the axon – the nerve fibre ‘cable’ that transmits information to other neurons to activate muscle contractions.
At some point, we lose the ability to grow axons in the central nervous system, or this ability is at least greatly impaired or slowed down. This means that damage to the brain and spinal cord becomes permanent, leading to devastating disabilities, such as the inability to grasp or walk. This is often the case for traumatic spinal cord injury and can be a feature of many neurological diseases, including motor neurone disease or multiple sclerosis.
The Cambridge research team was led by Dr András Lakatos, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Neurology, who began his association with Spinal Research as a Nathalie Rose Barr PhD Student between 1998-2023 and now serves on the charity’s Grant Advisory Board Committee.
Using lab-grown “organoids”, tiny human tissue models that mimic the brain and spinal cord, the team recreated the connections that allow movement signals to travel through the nervous system. They discovered that young nerve cells could regrow after injury, but this ability sharply declined as the cells matured.
Dr András Lakatos
“When the brain and spinal cord are damaged, the nerve fibres that carry movement signals from the brain to the spinal cord rarely grow back. That’s why paralysis is usually permanent. But we didn’t know exactly when the ability of axons to regenerate becomes limited. Our model provides a good indication that this block happens during development, and it can still be reversed after this point. "
Crucially, the researchers identified a network of genes responsible for switching off this repair process. By targeting these genes, they were able to reactivate nerve growth in damaged cells.
They also identified an existing hormone drug, lynestrenol, that significantly boosted nerve fibre regrowth in the lab, providing further evidence that repairing damaged spinal connections may be biologically possible.
Dr Lakatos said: “When the brain and spinal cord are damaged, the nerve fibres that carry movement signals from the brain to the spinal cord rarely grow back. That’s why paralysis is usually permanent.
“But we didn’t know exactly when the ability of axons to regenerate becomes limited. Our model provides a good indication that this block happens during development, and it can still be reversed after this point.
“Lynestrenol itself may not be the answer to spinal cord repair, but it shows us that, in principle, it should be possible to directly target human neurons and regenerate their axons.
“Although we still need to show that this strategy will also help to re-establish appropriate connections between the brain and spinal cord cells, this gives us hope that one day we may be able to treat conditions previously thought untreatable.”
The Cambridge study’s first author George Gibbons, from the Department of Neurosciences, has also been supported by Spinal Research through a PhD studentship in 2019.
This research is a powerful example of the impact that continued support can have in driving progress towards new treatments.
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