Thursday, September 25, 2008

MIT worm research could find treatment for brain disorders

By Mass High Tech staff

 
MIT researchers have demonstrated behavior control in worms using multiple signalling pathways, a breakthrough that may have implications for treating human brain disorders.

The researchers, Nobel-laureate Robert Horvitz and Niels Ringstad, investigated neural pathways in a mutant strain of roundworms.

Hermaphrodite roundworms usually fertilize their own eggs and lay them as they mature. In some mutant strains, the egg-laying is blocked, leading the worm to swell with 50 or more embryos. Horvitz and Ringstad identified a gene, egl-6, which encodes proteins that respond to hormones and other transmitters, and are important drug targets in humans.

By blocking this pathway, as well as blocking the transmitter acetylcholine, the worms became hyperactive egg-layers. The researchers likened the inhibiting the two pathways to stopping a car using both the handbrake and the footbrake.

The researchers said the work could help identify combinations of drugs to treat diseases. The research was funded by the Life Sciences Research Foundation, the Medical Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.