UNBLOCKING SYNAPTIC REGROWTH [ back to What's New ]
In the Feb. 2000 issue of the journal Nature, it was reported that molecular biologists in Zurich, Philadelphia and Yale University had simultaneously isolated the gene (which they named NoGo) which blocks axonal regeneration following traumatic damage. Nerve cells taken out of synaptic contact with other nerve cells self-destruct, so regrowth of damaged axons is imperative to save damaged cells. NoGo codes for the production of a protein inside the myelin sheath which coats the axons of brain cells. Although myelin, an insulation material,  is necessary for lightening fast transmission of nerve impulses from one brain cell to another and down the spinal cord, it inhibits the sprouting or regrowth of damaged axons. Pediatric brain cells in the infant and toddler can rewire themselves to a remarkable extent following TBI, brain surgery or other brain insult, precisely because they are only partially myelinated. Adult brain cells are fully myelinated, and do not regrow to any appreciable extent after neurologic injury. It is hoped by the discoverers of Nogo that methods can be devised in the future which will block NoGo receptors, prevent the formation of the growth inhibiting protein and pave the way for robust regeneration of damaged nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. One group of patients likely to benefit in the near term from this research are people with Parkinson's Disease. This is because blockade of NoGo could allow fetal brain tissue transplants to take root, grow and hook up with surrounding cells, with consequent increase in the production and effective transmission of dopamine.