Scientists Show How Nerve Wiring Self-Destructs (IMAGE)
Caption
Many medical issues affect nerves, from injuries in car accidents and side effects of chemotherapy to glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. The common theme in these scenarios is destruction of nerve axons, the long wires that transmit signals to other parts of the body, allowing movement, sight and sense of touch, among other vital functions. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a way the body can remove injured axons, identifying a potential target for new drugs that could prevent the inappropriate loss of axons and maintain nerve function. Mouse nerve axons (green) connect to muscle synapses (red) to coordinate movement. Three days after injury, these axons are protected from degeneration because they are missing Phr1, a gene involved in removing damaged axons from the body. In mice that have the gene, injured green axons fragment and disappear by the third day, leaving the red muscle synapses without nerve connections.
Credit
Elisabetta Babetto, Ph.D.
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