Blocking a signaling lipid can keep nerves from developing the arm-like extensions they need to wire the body and may even cause neurons to die, researchers have found.
The researchers hope this piece of the puzzle of how the central nervous system develops in the first place will one day help them repair loss from injury or disease.
It's already helped them understand the ailments of a spontaneous mouse mutant that has about 20 percent function of the protein that helps the lipid get to the cell surface so it can help axons grow, says Dr. Wen-Cheng Xiong, developmental neurobiologist and corresponding author on the study published in the November issue of Nature Cell Biology.
The mutant mouse is small and has motor neuron degeneration, with tremors, short limbs and a short life, she says. Before this new work, what the blocked lipid transfer protein regulated was still a mystery.
The lipids in question aren't those measured during an annual physical exam, rather those that help give shape and function to units within cells such as the nucleus and cell powerhouse, or mitochondria, she says.
"Traditionally people didn't think these lipids were regulated. They thought they were just there," says Dr. Xiong. "But what we found is this particular lipid is regulated; it's like a signaling molecule. Especially during axon growth, the dynamic regulation is more dramatic."
She and her colleagues found the lipid is transferred to the cell surface at just the right time and place by phosphatidylinositol transfer protein-รก, which humans also have. It's been known that many proteins can be regulated, especially signaling proteins that enable intracellular chatter. "Now we have found this protein regulates lipids and lipids also travel," Dr. Xiong says.