Unexpected cell repairs the injured spinal cord
A study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has revealed how scar tissue is formed after damage to the central nervous system. For more than a century, scientists thought that glial cells were responsible for scar formation; now, however, a paper published in Science shows that spinal cord scar tissue largely derives from a completely unexpected type of cell called a pericyte, opening new opportunities for the treatment of damaged nerve tissue.Lesions to the brain or spinal cord rarely heal fully, which leads to permanent functional impairment. After injury to the central nervous system (