Biologists: Protein restores functions

UC Irvine biologists say they have found a human-produced protein that could help people recover their motor function after suffering a stroke, school officials said.

The separate studies, published in the journal Neuroscience and the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, respectively, claim mice who had strokes repair nearly all of their motor function a month after receiving the protein.

The protein, transforming growth factor alpha, plays a critical role in development and tissue formation from conception to old age.

When the protein was injected into the stroke-suffering mice’s brains, they recovered 99% of their motor skills, one study showed. In the other, the protein was given in a nasal spray and the mice recovered 70% of their motor skills, according to the research.

Further studies will have to determine if the protein works effectively in humans.

— Joseph Serna