New strategy for treatment of spinal cord injury by neuropeptide

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K15670
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Emergency medicine
• Research Institution: Hoshi University
• Principal Investigator: Shioda Seiji 星薬科大学, 先端生命科学研究所, 教授 (80102375)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: PACAP / 脊髄損傷 / 神経細胞死防御 / 神経再生

Outline of Final Research Achievements

PACAP (Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polyeptide) is a neuropeptide having neuronal protection, nerve repair and neuroregeneration activity. We have found that in the experiment using a spinal cord injury model of mouse, PACAP suppresses nerve cell death with a very low concentration. Furthermore, functional analysis of neuronal cell death inhibition by PACAP was performed, and it was also revealed that PACAP promotes axon outgrowth by promoting the expression of CRMP2 (Collapsin response mediator protein, axon elongation protein) in nerve cells. These findings suggest that PACAP promotes recovery of motor function by inducing axon regeneration after injury in nerve cell injured region in the spinal cord. PACAP may be used as a remedy for spinal cord injury in near future.

Free Research Field

神経解剖学