TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR-BETA(1) AND BASIC FIBROBLAST GROWTH-FACTORIN THE INJURED CNS

After injuries that penetrate the mature brain or spinal cord, damaged axons initially show a growth response, but later their regeneration is aborted as a dense permanent scar is laid down within the core of t he wound. Functional recovery from such injuries is poor and morbidity is severe, particularly for those patients with spinal cord damage. C linically, no long term therapeutic treatments have been developed tha t might inhibit scarring and promote neuronal growth, Consequently, th e prevalence of patients permanently disabled from head and spinal cor d injury is high, estimated at more than 1:1000 of the population of N orth America (Office of Technology Assessment USA, 1990). Ann Logan an d Martin Berry define the mechanisms that underlie the wound healing r esponse in the CNS and discuss the rationale for the development of no vel therapeutic strategies.