For the first time a gene was identified that allows the repair of damaged nerves in nematodes. The study is from Science Express.

A gene that can stimulate the growth of nerve cells was first identified by researchers at the University of Utah (USA), thanks to cutting-edge experimental techniques and a huge genetic screening on a nematode (cylindrical or worm).

The neurons, which in the embrio are able to regenerate, in adults have their capacity to "repair" reduced or absent. In other words, damage to the central nervous system (brain or spinal cord) and its consequences - paralysis, loss or reduction of cognitive faculties - are permanent.

"In the past molecules have been identified that can inhibit the growth of neurons in different organisms," says the coordinator of research Michael Bastiani, "but their removal in the laboratory had no effect. That is why we went to look for those genes that can stimulate rather than inhibit, the regeneration of nerve. "

Taking as a experimental model flat worms (Caenorhabditis elegans), biologists have searched for the genes that trigger the regrowth of motor (neurons that "command" voluntary muscles): in practice, with an experimental technique called RNA interference to "shut down ", one by one, 5000 on 20,000 genes in the DNA of worms (genes similar are also present in humans).

The analysis led to the identification of dlk-1, which appears to play a key role in the regeneration of nerve tissue, and three other genes responsible for the formation of axons (parts of the neuron that conduct electrical signal).

The researchers found that in nematodes, the gene dlk-1 not only triggers a chain of events known as "Map kinase" behind the growth of neurons, but also that their regeneration can be increased or decreased by stimulating the gene to produce amounts more or less high of the protein dlk-1.