Yale team finds dozens of genes that block regeneration of neurons
2021-03-02
(Press-News.org) When central nervous system cells in the brain and spine are damaged by disease or injury, they fail to regenerate, limiting the body's ability to recover. In contrast, peripheral nerve cells that serve most other areas of the body are more able to regenerate. Scientists for decades have searched for molecular clues as to why axons -- the threadlike projections which allow communication between central nervous system cells -- cannot repair themselves after stroke, spinal cord damage, or traumatic brain injuries.
In a massive screen of 400 mouse genes, Yale School of Medicine researchers have identified 40 genes actively involved in suppression of axon regeneration in central nervous system cells. By editing out one of those genes, they were able to restore axons in ocular nerves of mice damaged by glaucoma.
The findings are reported March 2 in the journal Cell Reports.
"This opens a new chapter in regeneration research," said Stephen Strittmatter, the Vincent Coates Professor of Neurology and professor of neuroscience and senior author of the study.
Over the past several decades, Strittmatter and other scientists have found a handful of genes involved in suppressing regeneration of central nervous system cells. But the advent of RNAs to silence gene expression and new gene editing technologies capable of removing single genes and gauging their functional impact has allowed researchers to greatly expand their search for other culprits.
Among the 400 candidate genes the Yale team had previously identified in cultures of cortical neurons, they were able to show that one in 10 of those genes had direct in vivo impact on axon regeneration in central nervous system cells in mice. One of the 40 genes edited out encodes for an immune system regulator known as interleukin-22. Elimination of this immune mediator altered the expression of many neuronal regeneration genes and greatly increased axon regeneration in mouse models of glaucoma, they found.
Future research will explore how modifying or blocking those 40 genes might affect the repair of neurons damaged by stroke and traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, Strittmatter said.
INFORMATION:
Yale's Jane Lindborg is lead author of the paper.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-03-02
Disruptions in the circadian rhythms in lung cells may explain why adults who survived premature birth are often more at risk of severe influenza infections, suggests a study in mice published today in eLife.
Dramatic improvements in the care of infants born prematurely have allowed many more to survive into adulthood. Yet ex-preemies can face several long-term side effects of the life-saving care they received. The study suggests potential new approaches to treating lasting lung problems in those born prematurely.
Many premature infants are not able to breathe on their own and require oxygen to survive. ...
2021-03-02
College course syllabi written in a warm, friendly tone are more likely to encourage students to reach out when they are struggling or need help, a new study from Oregon State University found.
Conversely, when a syllabus is written in a more cold, detached tone, students are less likely to reach out.
The study also compared the effect of syllabus tone with the effect of a deliberate "Reach out for help" statement included in the document.
"The instructor has to ask themselves, what's the first point of contact with the class for the student? In an online class and in remote learning, the syllabus is often the ...
2021-03-02
The United States experiences more tornadoes than any other country, with a season that peaks in spring or summer depending on the region. Tornadoes are often deadly, especially in places where buildings can't withstand high winds.
Accurate advanced warnings can save lives. A study from the University of Washington and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes a new way to rate and possibly improve tornado warnings. It finds that nighttime twisters, summer tornadoes and smaller events remain the biggest challenges for the forecasting community.
"This new method lets us measure how forecast skill is improving, decreasing or staying the same in different situations," said Alex ...
2021-03-02
A recent study of how human resources professionals review online information and social media profiles of job candidates highlights the ways in which so-called "cybervetting" can introduce bias and moral judgment into the hiring process.
"The study drives home that cybervetting is ultimately assessing each job candidate's moral character," says Steve McDonald, corresponding author of the study and a professor of sociology at North Carolina State University. "It is equally clear that many of the things hiring professionals are looking at make it more likely for ...
2021-03-02
p>
Boulder, Colo., USA: Several new articles were published online ahead of
print for Geology in February. Topics include stress in survivor
plants following the collapse of land ecosystems, the Gulf of Aden, whether
the Denali fault is still active, the first reported Burgess Shale-type
fauna rediscovered, and redefining the age of the lower Colorado River.
These Geology articles are online at END ...
2021-03-02
Researchers from Skoltech's Intelligent Space Robotics Lab have proposed a novel method for customer behavior analytics and demand distribution based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) stocktaking. Their research was published in the proceedings of the International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision (ICARCV).
Autonomous robotic systems that already pervade our daily lives are faced with a host of challenging tasks, such as stocktaking in a rapidly changing environment.
A Skoltech team led by Professor Dzmitry Tsetserukou from the Skoltech Space Center (Intelligent Space Robotics Lab) has proposed a novel method that helps ...
2021-03-02
EUGENE, Ore. - March 2, 2021 - High-resolution imaging and 3D computer modeling show that the dendrites of neurons weave through space in a way that balances their need to connect to other neurons with the costs of doing so.
The discovery, reported in Nature Scientific Reports Jan. 27, emerged as researchers sought to understand the fractal nature of neurons as part of a University of Oregon project to design fractal-shaped electrodes to connect with retinal neurons to address vision loss due to retinal diseases.
"The challenge in our research has been understanding how the neurons we want to target in the retina will connect to our electrodes," said Richard Taylor, a professor and head ...
2021-03-02
An analysis of law enforcement seizures of illegal drugs in five key regions of the United States revealed a rise in methamphetamine and marijuana (cannabis) confiscations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seizures of the two drugs were higher at their peak in August 2020 than at any time in the year prior to the pandemic. While investigators found that trends in heroin, cocaine and fentanyl seizures were not affected by the pandemic, provisional overdose death data show that the increased drug mortality seen in 2019 rose further through the first half of 2020.
The findings suggest that the pandemic and its related restrictions may ...
2021-03-02
Washington, DC-- March 2, 2021 -- Detecting COVID-19 outbreaks before they spread could help contain the virus and curb new cases within a community. This week in mSystems, an open-access Journal of the American Society for Microbiology, researchers from the University of California San Diego describe a mostly-automated early alert system that uses high-throughput analysis of wastewater samples to identify buildings where new COVID-19 cases have emerged--even before infected people develop symptoms.
The approach is fast, cost-effective, and sensitive enough to detect a single ...
2021-03-02
Today, we can say without a shadow of doubt that an alternative to fossil fuels is needed. Fossil fuels are not only non-renewable sources of energy but also among the leading causes of global warming and air pollution. Thus, many scientists worldwide have their hopes placed on what they regard as the fuel of tomorrow: hydrogen (H2). Although H2 is a clean fuel with incredibly high energy density, efficiently generating large amounts of it remains a difficult technical challenge.
Water splitting--the breaking of water molecules--is among the most explored methods to produce H2. While there are many ways ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Yale team finds dozens of genes that block regeneration of neurons
