A team of international scientists is one step closer to understanding neurodegenerative diseases after developing a tool to explore how nerve cells become damaged.
The research team, led by Dr Marc Hammarlund at Yale University, Dr Hang Lu at Georgia Institute of Technology and Massimo Hilliard at 宅男导航 (宅男导航), used a fluorescent protein named KillerRed to damage neurons in roundworms.
Dr Massimo Hilliard from 宅男导航鈥檚 (QBI) said the team then used a single light stimulus on nerve cells producing KillerRed, and the cells, in turn, generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) that damage the neuron.
The tool allowed the team to study how the worm鈥檚 nerve cells responded to excessive free radicals triggered by KillerRed.
鈥淭his new developed tool will allow us not only to investigate neuronal function, but also to understand how neurons respond to damage caused by ROS, which are generated in several neurodegenerative diseases,鈥� Dr Hilliard said.
鈥淥ne of the best way to interrogate a neuronal circuit is to destroy some of its specific components and then study the resulting effects.鈥�
鈥淭he study showed KillerRed activation was efficient and versatile, functioning in several different neuronal types, and highly specific, leaving unharmed surrounding tissues and cells that were not expressing this molecule.鈥�
These results might have broad implications in brain research providing valuable insights on neuronal function as well as how neurons get damaged and die.
The publication, Rapid and permanent neuronal inactivation in vivo via subcellular generation of reactive oxygen using KillerRed, will be published in Cell Reports.
The paper is available online
Media contact: Mikaeli Costello, mikaeli.costello@uq.edu.au or 0401 580 685.
