Clotting protein hinders nerve repair
By Nathan Seppa
A protein that helps keep a person from bleeding to death when cut or bruised also slows repair of nerve damage that results from injuries, according to a study with mice.
Wirelike nerve-cell extensions called axons run throughout the body. Most have a fatty sheath called myelin that acts as an insulator for the nerve’s electrical charges. When a nerve is damaged, the axon is exposed to blood and its constituents, including the clotting agent fibrin. A team reports in the March 14 Neuron that mice made to lack fibrin, by genetic engineering or the administration of drugs, recover much more quickly from a crush injury to a leg nerve than mice with a normal supply of the protein do.