Nervous Dancers

Transported to the site of a spinal injury, here artificial chemicals aim to heal damaged cells. But, like new arrivals at a school disco, the molecules fail to make an impact until they’re encouraged to move – jiving about on a scaffold of nanofibres, they match the rhythms of natural molecules that dance around receptors in the cells’ surface, triggering growth and repair. Fine-tuning these bioactive chemicals makes them more mobile and 'sociable' – in this stretch of mouse spine (highlighted in green and blue) their frolicking signals limit the growth of scar tissue and encourage new blood vessels to develop. Eventually, neuron cells grow new branches or axons (red). In the future, coaxing molecules to move to different biological rhythms may help to encourage repair, and, hopefully, keep human bodies moving.

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 the Stupp Laboratory, Northwestern University
• Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
• Image copyright held by the original authors
• Research by Z. Álvarez and colleagues, Northwestern University, published in Science, November 2021