A new research study published in Nature has uncovered remarkable parallels between the anatomy of the spinal cord in fish and humans.
Zebrafish, native to freshwater habitats in South Asia, can fully recover from spinal cord injuries due to the resilience and plasticity of their nerve cells. Unlike humans and most mammals, where damaged neurons die, zebrafish neurons survive, rewire, and heal after injury.
“In zebrafish, we think severed neurons can overcome the stress of injury because their flexibility helps them establish new local connections immediately after injury,” explains Mayssa Mokalled, Professor of Developmental Biology at Washington University in St. Louis.
This differs from human neurons, which typically trigger a toxic response after spinal cord injury that kills cells and blocks repair. This toxic response may explain why efforts to heal spinal cord injuries using experimental stem cell therapy have failed, researchers said. “We found that most, if not all, aspects of neural repair that we’re trying to achieve in people occur naturally in zebrafish,” Mokalled added.
The research offers hope for unlocking similar healing mechanisms in humans, as versions of the genes responsible for the process in zebrafish are also found in humans. “Our study has identified genetic targets that will help us promote this type of plasticity in the cells of people,” said Mokalled.
You can view the entire Nature study here.
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