Worm gene offers clues to nerve cell repair -study

CHICAGO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Researchers believe they have found a potential way to regenerate nerves by stimulating a gene and said on Thursday they hope their work in worms may some day help people with spinal cord injuries.

The gene is part of a network, or pathway, of four genes that appear to be essential for nerve repair, they reported in the journal Science.

"We found a pathway that not only regenerates nerves in the worm, but also exists in humans, and we think it serves the same purpose," Michael Bastiani of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, who led the study, said in a statement.

Bastiani said the gene could serve as a target for a future drug that could "vastly improve the ability of a neuron to regenerate after injury."

In humans, nerve fibers in the arms and legs can regenerate, but in the brain and spinal cord, they do not. Many teams are working to understand why.

Bastiani's team looked to nematode worms for clues. Using an advanced research technique called RNA interference, the team systematically blocked the action of 5,000 worm genes to isolate those important for nerve repair.

They found a gene called dlk-1 was essential to the process at every stage of the worm's life.

When they used genetic engineering to block this gene network, the worms were unable to repair nerve damage.

But when they stimulated the gene -- making it more active than normal -- worms with damaged nerves recovered much more quickly.