Duke researchers study approach that\u202fmay help millions\u202fmanaging diabetic neuropathy and chemotherapy-induced nerve pain\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n
For millions living with nerve pain, even a light touch can feel unbearable. Scientists have long suspected that damaged nerve cells falter because their energy factories known as mitochondria\u202fdon\u2019t\u202ffunction\u00a0properly.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now\u202fresearch\u202fpublished in\u00a0Nature<\/a>\u202f suggests\u202fa way forward: supplying healthy mitochondria to struggling\u202fnerve\u202fcells.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Using\u00a0human\u00a0tissue\u00a0and mouse models, researchers at Duke University School of Medicine found that replenishing mitochondria\u202fsignificantly\u00a0reduced\u202fpain tied to\u202fdiabetic neuropathy and chemotherapy-induced nerve\u00a0damage.\u202fIn some cases,\u00a0relief\u00a0lasted\u00a0up to\u00a048\u00a0hours.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead of masking symptoms,\u202fthe approach could\u00a0fix\u00a0what the team\u202fsees as\u202fthe\u202froot\u00a0problem\u00a0\u2014 restoring the energy flow that keeps nerve cells healthy and resilient.\u00a0\u202f\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBy giving damaged nerves fresh mitochondria \u2014 or helping them make more of their own \u2014 we can reduce inflammation and support healing,\u201d said\u202fthe study\u2019s senior author\u202fRu-Rong Ji, PhD<\/a>, director of the\u00a0Center for Translational Pain Medicine<\/a>\u202fin the\u202fDepartment of Anesthesiology<\/a>\u202fat Duke School of Medicine. \u201cThis approach has the potential to ease pain in a completely new way.\u201d\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Their findings\u00a0build on growing evidence that cells can\u00a0swap mitochondria,\u00a0a process that scientists are beginning to recognize as a built-in support\u00a0system\u00a0that may affect many conditions beyond pain.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The secret life of glial cells<\/strong>\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Sensory neurons that detect touch or pain have\u202fextremely long branches\u202f\u2014 sometimes stretching three feet from the spine to the skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n Keeping these\u00a0far-flung nerve\u00a0endings\u00a0stocked with\u00a0mitochondria\u00a0is a constant challenge.\u202fWhen the supply falls\u202fshort, neurons\u202fstruggle to\u202ffunction\u202fand heal. Inflammation rises, pain circuits become overly sensitive, and people can develop neuropathy, a\u202fcommon\u202fcomplication\u202fof\u202fdiabetes,\u202fas well as\u00a0chemotherapy\u202fand\u202fnerve injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u202fDuke\u202fteam\u202ffocused\u00a0on\u202fsatellite glial cells\u202f\u2014\u202fthe\u202ftiny\u202fsupport\u202fcells that\u202fwrap around sensory neurons in\u202fthe\u202fdorsal root ganglia, a\u202fhub that sends\u202ftouch, temperature, and pain signals to the brain.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n They found that\u202fthese glial cells\u202fcan\u202fdeliver\u202fmitochondria directly to neurons\u202fthrough\u202ftiny\u202fchannels\u202fcalled\u202ftunneling nanotubes\u00a0(TNTs).\u202fWhen\u202fthis\u202fmitochondrial handoff is\u202fdisrupted,\u202fJi\u202fsaid,\u202fnerve fibers begin to degenerate\u202f\u2014 triggering\u202fpain, tingling and numbness,\u202foften\u202fin the hands and feet, the farthest stretch of nerve fibers.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Although\u202fTNTs\u202fhave been studied\u202ffor years, this is the first\u202fclear evidence\u202fthat they\u202fwork this way\u202finside living\u202fnerve\u202ftissue.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBy sharing energy reserves, satellite\u202fglial\u202fcells may help keep neurons out of pain,\u201d said\u202fJi, a\u202fprofessor of anesthesiology,\u202fneurobiology,\u202fand cell biology\u202fat Duke School of\u202fMedicine.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Ji worked with lead author\u00a0Jing Xu, PhD<\/a>, a research scholar in the Department of Anesthesiology, along with longtime collaborator\u00a0Caglu Eroglu, PhD<\/a>,\u00a0a\u00a0Duke\u00a0professor\u00a0of cell biology\u00a0known for her\u00a0expertise\u00a0in glial cell behavior. Eroglu\u2019s lab helped to isolate mitochondria for transfer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Boosting\u202fthe\u202fnatural\u202fenergy\u202fexchange\u202freduced pain behaviors in mice\u202fby 40-50% within a day,\u00a0the study\u00a0showed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Then researchers tried a more direct approach. Injecting isolated mitochondria directly into the\u00a0dorsal root ganglia\u00a0eased pain for days, but only when the donor mitochondria was healthy. Samples from people with diabetes had no effect.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The team also\u202fpinpointed a\u202fkey protein, MYO10, that helps\u202fbuild\u202fthe\u202fnanotubes\u00a0required\u00a0for this\u00a0energy exchange.\u00a0When\u00a0MYO10\u00a0was switched off,\u202fpain\u00a0worsened,\u202fa sign that the protein is\u00a0essential\u00a0for moving mitochondria between cells.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n How mitochondrial transfer affects disease<\/strong>\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n The work reflects a principle\u202femerging\u202facross cell biology:\u00a0that\u00a0cells\u00a0can share energy when under\u00a0stress.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Scientists say that if they can boost or restore these energy exchanges, they may be able to help damaged cells recover and influence a wide range of conditions, from obesity to stroke and cancer.<\/p>\n In obesity, damaged mitochondria from fat cells fuel inflammation and metabolic dysfunction. In stroke, support cells donate healthy mitochondria to help injured brain cells recover. And in cancer, tumors \u201cborrow\u201d mitochondria to grow, spread and resist treatment.<\/p>\n More work is needed, the scientists\u00a0said, including high-resolution imaging to confirm precisely how\u202fnanotubes\u202fhelp\u00a0deliver fresh mitochondria\u00a0to nerve fibers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even so, the findings\u202fhighlight a\u202fpreviously\u202foverlooked communication pathway\u202fbetween nerve and glial cells\u202fthat could\u202ftreat chronic pain at its source.\u00a0<\/p>\n Additional<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>authors:<\/strong>\u202f\u202fJing Xu,\u00a0Yize\u00a0Li, Charles Novak, Min Lee,\u00a0Zihan\u00a0Yan,\u00a0Sangsu\u00a0Bang, Aidan McGinnis,\u00a0Sharat\u00a0Chandra, Vivian Zhang, Wei He, Terry\u00a0Lechler, Maria Pia Rodriguez Salazar,\u00a0Cagla\u00a0Eroglu, Matthew L. Becker, Dmitry\u00a0Velmeshev, and Richard E. Cheney.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Funding:<\/strong>\u00a0National Institutes of\u202fHealth,\u00a0Department of Defense\u202fand Duke Department of Anesthesiology\u00a0helped fund the study with authors receiving\u00a0additional\u00a0support from the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship,\u202fHoward Hughes Medical Institute, Michael J.\u202fFox and the Aligning Science Across Parkinson\u2019s Initiative,\u202fand Duke University Neurobiology Research Fund.\u202f\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Duke researchers study approach that\u202fmay help millions\u202fmanaging diabetic neuropathy and chemotherapy-induced nerve pain\u202f\u202f For millions living with nerve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[54724,18,135,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-275816","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-basic-science-research","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115864881306179007","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}