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ERC Advanced Grant 2011 for Martin Schwab

Blocking Growth Inhibitors 

Martin Schwab, brain researcher at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, convinced the ERC with his past research. Schwab analyzes the mechanisms of cell regrowth after an injury or stroke and how lost functions in the brain and spinal cord can be reestablished. «The ERC Advanced Grant is very important for our research. It allows us to look into the exact mechanisms behind the regrowth of neurons after an injury and how new neural circuits are formed.», says Martin Schwab.

In 1998 already, Schwab discovered at the University of Zurich that nerve fibers do not only have growth factors but also growth inhibitors. Schwab determined the most potent growth inhibitor and named it Nogo-A. In cooperation with Novartis, Schwab and his team have developed antibodies against human Nogo-A, thereby laying the foundation for a new therapeutic approach against paraplegia.

Gaining new therapeutic options

The ERC Grant amounting to 2.5 million Euros is to be invested in the coming five years in achieving a better understanding of the functionality of Nogo-A. As Schwab explains: «We know a lot about Nogo-A already. For example that Nogo-A interacts with a complex of membrane proteins on growing nerve fibers. But we only know partially how, exactly, the receptor complex acts on Nogo-A.» In the project financed by the grant, the composition of this receptor complex will be analyzed. Schwab’s hope is that « the molecular analyzes will provide us new possibilities of stopping the nerve fibers’ growth inhibition caused by Nogo-A.»

Source: UZH News, 26 January 2012. Read article in German >>