Gene therapy study has implications for nerve degeneration

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Aaron DiAntonio and Jeff Milbrant recently demonstrated the power of blocking the SARM1 pathway for preventing nerve degeneration. Building on previous work, they used adeno-associated virus to deliver a dominant-negative form of the SARM1 protein to mice. When axons in these mice were injured, they were resistant to degeneration. These studies have implications for many neurodegenerative diseases, including chemotherapy-induced neuropathy.

Geisler S, Huang SX, Strickland A, Doan RA, Summers DW, Mao X, Park J, DiAntonio A, Milbrandt J. Gene therapy targeting SARM1 blocks pathological axon degeneration in mice. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2018.