ABS 008: Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Image Fiber Tracking to Evaluate Spinal Cord Regeneration

Jonah G. Ferber ¹ , Allison Campbell ¹ , Gopal Agarwal ¹ , Arun Wanchoo ¹ , Daniel Plant ², Prodip Bose ², Gregory Hudalla ¹ , Benjamin Keselowsky ¹ , Christine E. Schmidt ¹

¹ J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, Gainesville FL
² VA Research Service, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville FL

The Van Wickle Journal (2026) Volume 2, ABS008

Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains one of the most devastating neurological disorders, with hundreds of thousands of individuals in the United States living with total or partial paralysis. The limited regenerative capacity of the central nervous system in conjunction with inhibitory extracellular matrix components prevents recovery of damaged neural pathways. Despite ongoing research into cell-based, pharmacological, and biomaterial-based strategies, there are currently no FDA-approved therapies which regenerate damaged spinal cord tissue. My laboratory designed an injectable decellularized peripheral nerve based-hydrogel system (iPN) to deliver a functionalized enzyme, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase fused to galectin-3 (IDO-Gal3). The therapeutic IDO works to suppress neuroinflammation through the breakdown of tryptophan and production of immune suppressive metabolites. I hypothesized that this combinatory treatment (IDO-Gal3 + iPN) would have a synergistic effect in modulating the inflammatory response while promoting axonal regeneration in SCI.

Methods: By performing quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analyses, I assessed the extent of spinal cord sparing following treatment. Spinal fiber architecture was reconstructed and preserved white matter volume was quantified to evaluate therapeutic efficacy. These imaging findings were complemented by histological and behavioral outcome measures. Quantitative analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA), a marker of white matter integrity, was assessed across the corticospinal, reticulospinal-vestibulospinal, and rubrospinal tracts.

Results: This analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between treatment groups. However, qualitative examination of the diffusion tractography maps and FA trends indicated that the IDO-Gal3 + iPN combination group exhibited greater fiber continuity and denser tract organization throughout the lesion site as compared to untreated or single-component controls.

Discussion: The lack of statistical significance is likely due to the small sample size. Despite these constraints, the qualitative consistency observed in the IDO-Gal3 + iPN group supports the therapeutic potential of this treatment paradigm and justifies further refinement of our imaging and analytic methods.