Investigating stiffness alterations in spinal cord injury (360G-Wellcome-211614_Z_18_Z)

Spinal cord injury is a devastating condition that may lead to loss of limb movement, sensation and bladder control. Despite intense research, treatment is still very limited. Most research to date has focused on biochemical signalling. However, some more recent studies have hinted that mechanics might play an important role in spinal cord regeneration. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), a cutting-edge technique which allows us to very precisely measure stiffness maps of biological tissues, we will investigate the stiffness of spinal cord tissue at various time points after injury and compare this to the stiffness of healthy spinal cord. We will test whether artificially modifying the stiffness of the damaged spinal cord or modifying mechanosensing in spinal cord cells improves regeneration of neurons after spinal cord injury. Our studies will be carried out in a cervical contusion model in rats which closely mimics the pathology seen in the human spinal cord after injury, even though the behavioural impairments the animals show are markedly less grave.