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Ed Note: The following is a press release from the University of
North Carolina
UNC scientists discover molecular pathway leading to nerve growth,
regeneration
June 30, 2004 -- Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
have discovered key steps involved in regulating nerve growth and regeneration
that may have implications for spinal cord research.
The new research, published in the June 24 issue of the journal Neuron, for
the first time describes how nerve growth factor (NGF) stimulates a sequence of
proteins – a molecular pathway – that promotes nerve growth.
"It is the first study to show the link between NGF and the building blocks
that form the axon," said Dr. William Snider, professor of neurology and cell
and molecular physiology at UNC’s School of Medicine and director of the UNC
Neuroscience Center.
Axons are long tendrils, or processes, that extend from nerve cells to form
connections with other nerve cells, muscles and the skin.
Injury to the peripheral nervous system – that portion of the nervous system
outside the brain and spinal cord – typically results in spontaneous
regeneration and repair. However, this is not the case with the spinal cord,
where disruption of connections from injury leads to paralysis.
"The results of this study allow us to know more about how to promote axon
growth and regeneration in the spinal cord," said Dr. Fengquan Zhou, a
postdoctoral fellow of the Spinal Cord Research Foundation who works in Snider’s
laboratory and is lead author of the study.
In addition, the findings may be important to understanding how the brain is
wired, said Snider. "We think the findings may be relevant to axon growth in the
brain."
In the study, Zhou took a novel approach to identifying missing links in the
molecular pathway when he recognized that NGF stimulation occurred in the growth
cone of the axon. This simplified a complex problem that had previously eluded
others who did not focus on the growth cone.
Basically, in the pathway Zhou identified, NGF signals two proteins (PI3K and
GSK-3beta and PI3K) that, in turn, regulate another protein, APC, to assemble
the axon from its building blocks called microtubules.
"This work helps us understand how an axon is put together and gives us a new
idea about how we might make it happen after a spinal cord injury."
The study was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke, a component of the National Institutes of Health.
Co-authors with Zhou and Snider are Yaohong Wu, also of the UNC Neuroscience
Center, and Dr. Shoukat Dedhar of the British Columbia Cancer Agency in
Canada.
Note: Contact Snider at (919) 843-8623 or william_snider@med.unc.edu.
School of Medicine contact: Les Lang, (919) 843-9687 or llang@med.unc.edu
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