Spinal Cord Injury And Traumatic Brain Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are conditions in which the spinal cord or the brain, respectively, suffer trauma, leading to symptoms that range from mild to very severe. Interestingly, in these conditions, certain proteins, including Aβ, tau, α-synuclein, and TDP-43 aggregate abnormally and form insoluble deposits in the affected tissue. It is not clear to what extent the abnormal protein aggregation and deposition contribute to the neuronal degeneration and loss in SCI and TBI, yet recent animal studies suggest that preventing the abnormal protein aggregation may help neurons to survive.