Ready for Axon

Injury to a nerve is often followed by a long period of recovery. The long thin fibres of nerve cells, known as axons, need time to grow back – but sometimes the damage is too great, leading to permanent loss of feeling, sensation or memory. Here is a new way to help – axons grown in the lab for transplants. First a cluster of human stem cells forms an organoid (green blob, left) – this shares some of the functions of the brain, like developing healthy 'branches' called neurites with their own axons – pictured growing over 50 days inside tubes of nourishing hydrogel. Researchers were able to pass signals down these axon columns (the longest measuring 1 cm) and may one day grow working axons from a patient’s own stem cells to patch up and repair damaged nerves – like an engineer replacing a severed electric cable, albeit 100 times smaller.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image from work by D. Kacy Cullen and colleagues
• Center for Brain Injury & Repair, Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
• Published in iScience, November 2019