MU Researchers Find New Insight into Fatal Spinal Disease
HealthCanal.com | September 27, 2011
Michael Garcia, MU associate professor of biological sciences, found a communication breakdown between nerves and muscles that may provide new insight into the fatal human disease known as spinal muscular atrophy.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Researchers at the University of Missouri have identified a communication breakdown between nerves and muscles in mice that may provide new insight into the debilitating and fatal human disease known as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).
“Critical communication occurs at the point where nerves and muscles ‘talk’ to each other. When this communication between nerves and muscles is disrupted, muscles do not work properly,” said Michael Garcia, associate professor of biological sciences in the College of Arts and Science and the Bond Life Sciences Center. “In this study, we found that delivery of ‘the words’ a nerve uses to communicate with muscles was disrupted before they arrived at the nerve ending.”
This would be similar to the idea of someone opening their mouth to talk, but nothing comes out. The words are not there to come out, so no communication is transmitted to the other person.
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