Key Protein Discovered That Allows Nerve Cells to Repair Themselves (1 of 2) (IMAGE)

Penn State

Key Protein Discovered That Allows Nerve Cells to Repair Themselves (1 of 2)

Caption

This image shows a neuron in an intact Drosophila larva. The neuron expresses two different fluorescent proteins: a red fluorescent protein that is present throughout the whole cell and indicates cell shape, and a green dendrite marker. This neuron had its axon severed with a laser five days earlier and has initiated regrowth of an axon from a dendrite. The new axon is the region that contains only the red marker, and not the green dendrite marker. The research led by Rolls demonstrates that this regeneration process fails if the kinesin-2 protein is depleted.

Credit

Melissa Rolls Lab, Penn State University

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