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Image by Daniel Castle
The Michigan Daily
Nerve Fibers Influenced
February 19, 2008
Muscle fibers have a more active role than just
telling nerve fibers to contract or relax. In Lin
Mei's laboratory at the Medical College of
Georgia, Lin Mei, researchers, and colleagues have
found that "backwards" signals from muscle fibers to nerve fibers can
influence nerve fiber location and function.
Besides Action, Muscles Provide Nutritional Factors
"Muscles have been
found to provide elusive nutritional factors
for nerve-cell development and survival. And
these findings could provide leads to their
identification," Mei said. Experiments could further the understanding
of why nerve cells that
control muscle fibers die from unknown causes
in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS) and a
variety of other neuromuscular diseases.
About experiments with "Scientists Find Nerve Signals
Go Both Ways"
New Lead ALS
January 25, 2008
"Molecular biologist John Engelhardt and his colleagues
uncovered unexpected protein interactions
in an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) study.
Protein SOD1 normally interacts with
protein RAC 1.
The SOD1 and RAC1 structure triggers
a third protein NOXZ to produce dangerous molecules
called reactive oxygen species, ROS.
Excess ROS
We need ROS
for the normal function of cells. An excess of
ROS can cause damage
called oxidative stress which occurs in
ALS and inflammation." was announced online in the Journal of Clinical
Investigation.
News on "'Unexpected Discovery"
The information on "Nerve Fibers Influenced Profoundly" and "New
Lead ALS"
was provided by
News from MDA.
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