Science: Study reveals regenerative mechanisms of neurons in the brain and eye.

Oct 6, 2020 /--- Neuron death, both in the brain and in the eyes, can lead to many human neurodegenerative diseases, including blindness and Parkinson's disease.
treatment of these diseases can only slow the progression of the disease, because once neurons die, there is no substitute.
(Photo: www.pixabay.com) Now, researchers from the University of Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins University, Ohio State University and the University of Florida have revealed key genetic networks that regulate whether neurons regenerate in some animals.
study shows that retinal neurons can regenerate," said David Hyde, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Notre Dame Cathedral and lead author of the study.
now think that the regeneration process of neurons in the brain will be similar.
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study, published in the journal Science, researchers mapped animal genes with regenerative regeneration of retinal neurons.
, for example, when the retina of zebrafish is damaged, cells called Müller glial cells undergo a process called reprogramming.
in the reprogramming process, the glial cells of Müller alter their gene expression to become progeny cells or cells in the early development of organisms.
, these present-day ancestral cells can be any cell needed to repair the damaged retina.
like zebrafish, people also have Müller glial cells.
, when the human retina is damaged, the glial cells of Müller multiply, a process that does not allow them to reprogram.
"After identifying different retinal damage recovery animal processes, we had to determine whether the reprogramming and glial formation processes were similar.
muller glial cells follow the same path in regenerative and non-regenerative animals, or will they be completely different? If we want to be able to regenerate human retinal neurons using Müller glial cells, do we need to understand whether to redirect the current pathways of Müller glial cells or do we need a completely different approach? The team found that the regeneration process only requires organisms to "re-open" their early development.
In addition, the researchers were able to demonstrate that during the regeneration of zebrafish, the glial cells of Müller also experienced neuroglial cell growth, which means that organisms that can regenerate regenerative retinal neurons have similar pathways to animals that cannot.
networks in zebrafish were able to transfer Müller glial cells from glial cells to reprogrammed states, while the genetic networks in mouse models prevented the reprogramming of Müller glial cells.
researchers modified zebrafish's Müller glial cells to a similar state, preventing reprogramming and regenerating regenerating regenerating retinal neurons in mouse models.
, the researchers will focus on the number of gene regulatory networks responsible for neuron regeneration and which genes in the network are responsible for regulating regeneration.
(bioon.com) Source: Researchers identify process for regenerating neurons in eye and brain Original source: Thanh Hoang et al, regulatory networks controlled vertebrate retinal regeneration, Science (2020). DOI: 10.1126/science.abb8598.