GRA Eminent Scholar Lin Mei and colleagues at Georgia Health Sciences University have taken another step forward in their studies to determine the complex communication between motor neurons and muscle cells. The scientists’ recent finding is that communication between brain and muscle requires that both have the protein LRP4 present. “That’s against the dogma,” Mei said. When the researchers eliminated the protein only from muscle cells in mice, a weak connection with the brain still formed, and the mice survived for several days.
In addition to explaining nerve-muscle communication better, the scientists hope that their findings will eventually enable gene therapy that delivers LRP4 to bolster insufficient levels in patients with disabling disorders such as myasthenia gravis and other forms of muscular dystrophy. Read more>
