Researchers at Cambridge University have demonstrated that it is possible to rebuild damaged optic nerves in blind people.
In mouse experiments, they activated a gene that codes for the protein protrudin. This protein is a necessary building material in both the so-called grippers on the nerve endings that receive messages from the optic cells and the nerve fibers that carry the messages forward.
Connection is broken between the eye and the visual centers
The nerve fibers that carry the visual impulses extend all the way from the retina back to the visual centers at the back of the brain.
This is how scientists repair the optic nerve
Glaucoma is one of the most common causes of blindness in older people. The disease is caused by nerve fibers being damaged and they do not regenerate, as the protein is not present in mature nerve fibers.
The method works on live mice
The scientists first grew the neurons in petri dishes and cut the nerve fibers apart with a laser. After that, they stimulated the production of protrudin, and this caused the nerve fibers to grow back together.
Excess pressure in the eye can lead to glaucoma
Glaucoma is caused by damage to the optic nerve, between the eye and the optic centers. The cause is not exactly known, the disease is related to the pressure of fluid in the eyeball becoming too high. Worldwide, about 2% of people suffer from the disease, but there are two variants:
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Open glaucoma
Is age-related and often appears gradually without noticeable symptoms. When the patient notices that the vision in one eye is starting to fade, the optic nerve has often already been gradually damaged over many years.
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Closed glaucoma
Appears suddenly and most often affects people after 40 and seems to be related to farsightedness. The vision becomes blurry in parts and people feel pain above the eyebrows. Without treatment, people can become blind in a matter of days.
When the researchers later tested the method on live mice with destroyed optic nerves, they got just as convincing results. The nerves clearly grew over the next few weeks.
The protein does two things
The experiment showed that protrudin has two types of action. First, it forms a kind of structural framework that guides the growth of the nerve fibers, and then it attracts all the necessary molecules for the reconstruction.
These new findings offer hope that people who have lost their vision due to glaucoma can regain it by increasing the production of protrudin.
