Scientists have determined how to protect neurons and stimulate their growth

0

Many neurodegenerative conditions , from glaucoma to Alzheimer's disease, are characterized by damage to axons, the long, thin flagella that conduct electrical impulses from one nerve cell to another.

Researchers know that inhibiting an enzyme called double leucine zipper kinase (DLK) appears to reliably protect neurons in a wide range of neurodegenerative disease models, but DLK also inhibits axonal regeneration.

Until now, there have been no effective methods of gene modification to improve long-term neuronal survival and accelerate regeneration.

In the paper, a group from several US universities identified another family of enzymes called four germ cell kinases (GCK-IV kinases), inhibition of which has a strong neuroprotective effect and also allows axonal regeneration, making it an attractive therapeutic approach for the treatment of some neurodegenerative diseases.