Dr. Michael Fainzilber and research students Eran Perelson and Shlomit Hantz from the Department of Biological Chemistry of the Weizmann Institute of Science discovered that the phosphorylated "messenger boys" bind to a special molecule, called "Vimentin", which protects them from the phosphorous-destroying substances
In a free paraphrase of an article by a Sage, one can say "Beware of messenger boys, from whom healing will come." Messenger boys carrying important messages star in many heroic stories, the most famous of which is, perhaps, the story of the messenger runner who carried the news of the victory of the Greeks over the Persians in the fateful battle of Marathon. A team of scientists from the Weizmann Institute recently discovered how molecular "messenger boys" manage to play a vital role in the ability of damaged nerve cells to heal themselves.
A nerve cell is built from the cell body, from which extends a kind of long extension, called an axon (in humans, the length of the axon can reach one meter). Nerve cells belonging to the peripheral nervous system can heal themselves when their axons are damaged. But how does the damaged axon transmit the information about its condition to the cell body, so that it starts producing the proteins essential for healing? This is precisely where the molecular "messenger boys", the proteins ERK 1 and ERK 2, enter the picture. As a result of the damage to the axon, these proteins are phosphorylated. In this state (when they are bound to phosphorus), they can activate a process of intracellular communication, which reaches the cell nucleus, and sends it a message that causes the expression of certain genes that produce the proteins essential for healing the damaged axon. The problem is that the "messenger boys" are found in the remote axon, and they have to convey their message (phosphorus) along a long path that contains many substances that may break down the phosphorous from them.
Dr. Michael Fainzilber and research students Eran Perelson and Shlomit Hantz from the Department of Biological Chemistry of the Weizmann Institute of Science discovered that the phosphorylated "messenger boys" bind to a special molecule, called "vimentin", which protects them from the phosphorous-dissolving substances. At that time the vimentin also binds to motor proteins that move the bundle along the axon. Thanks to the protection of vimentin, the "messenger boys" can reach the cell body safely, and deliver the message - the call for help - of the damaged axon. These findings were recently published in the scientific journal "Neuron". The scientists hope that this new insight will advance the possibility of developing, in the future, methods to treat and heal damaged nerve fibers.
Prof. Roni Zager from the Department of Biological Control and Prof. Michael Albaum from the Department of Materials and Surface Research, and the research students Keren Ben-Yaakov, Yael Segal-Roder and the post-doctoral researcher Dr. Dafna Frankel also participated in this study.
