Researchers at the University of Virginia have conducted a study that offers new insights into what happens when there are errors in the process of brain cells dividing to form new cells as the brain is growing. Their findings could open the door to treating cancer and many developmental disorders of the brain.
For a while, scientists have known that abscission, the process through which the bridge between dividing cells is cut, is involved in neurodevelopmental disorders and cancer. The genes regulating abscission are particularly of concern since they control that division process. The University of Virginia team sought to understand what happens when abscission doesn’t happen as it should in a developing brain.
For their study, the researchers used mouse models to investigate the consequences of abscission gone wrong. They found that abscission mistakes caused new brain cells to have significant changes from the cells out of which they formed. One finding was that the new cells formed when abscission errors occurred had two nuclei instead of the expected single nucleus.
Secondly, the external membranes of those defective brain cells were enlarged, and the cilia (antenna on their surface) were elongated. Some of these defective cells were found to have two cilia instead of one.
The researchers identified the p53 protein as playing the role of cleaning up whenever abscission doesn’t happen as expected and faulty cells result. This protein causes those defective cells to self-destruct. When this protein was blocked in the mouse models, the defective cells remained and made another attempt to divide, which also failed. The more the faulty cells tried and failed to divide, the more defective they became since they developed more nuclei and even more cilia on their surfaces.
As more defective cells appeared, the honeycomb structure of the brain became disrupted or distorted by these faulty cells with multiple nuclei and several cilia. The researchers believe that the working of the p53 protein is a crucial mechanism that needs further study to understand how cancers and neurodevelopmental disorders can be halted before they become major issues as the brain grows.
It may also be possible to prevent many birth defects once the process through which defective cells are removed is better understood. It would be interesting to hear what firms like CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) have to say about the findings of this study based on their experience in brain cancer therapy development.
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