Sci Rep: Study reveals direction of neuron growth

January 20, 2021 /--- one of the reasons why nerve damage in the brain cannot be easily regenerated is that neurodegeneratives do not know which direction they should grow.
team of researchers from Bochum Ruhr University, the Sorbonne University in Paris and the University of Technology in Brunswick have revealed that using magnetic nanoparticles can help neurons grow.
team, led by Professor Rolf Heumann, a senior researcher in molecular neurobiochemistry, will long-term mitigate the effects of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.
results of the work were published recently in the journal Scientific Reports.
restoring brain function after an injury or due to neurodegenerative diseases remains an unresolved issue in the field of neuroscience and medicine.
because regenerative synapses come into contact with proteins with growth-suppressing properties, the central nervous system can only be regenerated to a very limited extent.
Rolf Heumann explains: "The regenerative axon initially did not know which direction it needed to grow and reach the target tissue of the functional connection.
(Photo: www.pixabay.com) Bochum's team has previously been able to demonstrate that activation of central signaling path paths in neurons is triggered by Ras protein attached to the cell membrane, which protects cells from degeneration and promotes fiber growth.
researchers hope to control the direction of fiber growth in the current project.
, they used magnetic nanoparticles and implanted them inside model neurons.
the Ras signal path is triggered by a permanently active Ras protein or Ras regulated switching protein.
we initially demonstrated that we were able to use magnetic fields to move iron nanoparticles within neurons in a controlled manner, " he said.
team also successfully binds the Ras-regulated switching protein in the cell to nanoparticles and transfers it magnetically to the cell membrane.
, the researchers were able to implant these functional nanoparticles into the synapses and gather them at the tip of the growth direction.
nanoparticles and Ras switching proteins has been demonstrated by photoscale measurements and microscopic methods such as fluorescence imaging.
team believes that the ability to magnetically control functional nanoparticles in nerve fibers has therapeutic potential.
Heumann explains.
long-term goal of our study is to use functional magnetic nanoparticles in the brain to promote the regeneration of transplanted dopamine neurons," he said.
" (Bioon.com) Source: Parkinson's: Initial steps to show nerves their growth direction magnetically Original source: Fabian Raudzus et al, Magnetic spatiotemporal control of SOS1 coupled nanoparticles for guided neurite growth in dopamine single cells, Reports (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-80253-w