Germany-based Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center researchers studied the activity between the nervous system and the vascular system in hopes of discovering more about diseases plaguing the central nervous system, according to Medical Xpress.
Nature Communications published the study.
Here are five things to know:
1. The researchers discovered a blood vessel growth regulator found in the developing embryonic spinal cord.
2. The study revealed that "vascularisation of the spinal cord during embryonic development is a highly precise mechanism," according to Medical Xpress. This process demands a regulated balance of growth-stimulating and growth-inhibiting elements.
3. Researchers discovered that spinal cord motor neurons create VEGF-A, a signaling molecule, which triggers blood vessel formation.
4. The neurons also create sFlt1, a VEGF-A trapping molecule, which establishes accurate patterning of the blood vessels. Any modification of the balance alters the blood vessel growth pattern, which triggers blood vessels to grow into the motor neuron too early.
5. The researchers concluded their study sheds light on neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases involving the vascular system.