Promoting axon regeneration in the central nervous system by increasing PI3-kinase signaling

Promoting axon regeneration in the central nervous system by increasing PI3-kinase signaling

Blog Article

Much research has focused on the PI3-kinase and PTEN signaling pathway with the aim to stimulate repair of Support Stockings - Compression Hosiery the injured central nervous system.Axons in the central nervous system fail to regenerate, meaning that injuries or diseases that cause loss of axonal connectivity have life-changing consequences.In 2008, genetic deletion of PTEN was identified as a means of stimulating robust regeneration in the optic nerve.

PTEN is a phosphatase that opposes the actions of PI3-kinase, a family of enzymes that function to generate the membrane phospholipid PIP3 from PIP2 (phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate from phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate).Deletion of PTEN therefore allows elevated signaling downstream of PI3-kinase, and was initially demonstrated to promote axon regeneration by signaling through mTOR.More recently, additional mechanisms have been identified that contribute to the neuron-intrinsic control of regenerative ability.

This review describes neuronal signaling pathways downstream of PI3-kinase and PIP3, and considers them in relation to both developmental and regenerative axon growth.We briefly discuss the key neuron-intrinsic mechanisms that govern regenerative ability, and describe how these are affected by signaling through PI3-kinase.We highlight the recent finding of a developmental decline in the generation of PIP3 as a key reason for regenerative failure, and summarize the studies that target an increase in signaling Stackable Chairs downstream of PI3-kinase to facilitate regeneration in the adult central nervous system.

Finally, we discuss obstacles that remain to be overcome in order to generate a robust strategy for repairing the injured central nervous system through manipulation of PI3-kinase signaling.