Scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine have recently found something startling. Their recent article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science explains that they’ve found a protective protein, Nmnat1, that drastically reduces damage to the brain when the brain is deprived of oxygen and blood flow. The findings, which have so far only been done on mice, could potentially create a new strategy for treating cerebral palsy, strokes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Five years ago, Jeff Milbrandt, MD, PhD first identified Nmnat1 when he showed that the protein can protect against damage to peripheral nerves in a person’s extremities. Another researcher, Phillip Verghese, PhD, who was a postdoctoral researcher in Holtzman’s laboratory, wanted to explore if the protein could also protect the brain.

More recently, the researchers have looked at the effects of oxygen and blood flow deprivation by comparing normal mice with those who were genetically engineered to have higher-than-normal levels of Nmnat1. What they found was shocking – and exciting. Within six hours, the mice with the enhanced Nmnat1 showed less brain injury than did those without. As they continued to follow up with the mice, they found that the MRI scans of the brain showed that the Nmnat1 might be even more protective than they had first imagined. The scans revealed virtually no brain damage over time.

Hotzman explained that, “There are two types of injury in the developing brain from inadequate oxygen and blood flow. One is necrosis, where cells swell rapidly, burst and die; another is apoptosis, where the cells shrink and die. We found that Nmnat1 prevents necrosis.”

While the researchers aren’t completely clear about how Nmnat1 protects the brain cells, they believe that it manages to block the effects of the neurotransmitter glutamate, which overstimulates and kills neighboring nerve cells.

As senior author David M. Holtzman, MD, the Andrew and Gretchen Jones Professor and head of the Department of Neurology, explained, “Under normal circumstances, the brain can handle a temporary disruption of either oxygen or blood flow during birth, but when they occur together and for long enough, long-term disability and death can result. If we can use drugs to trigger the same protective pathway as Nmnat1, it may be possible to prevent brain damage that occurs from these conditions as well as from neurodegenerative diseases.”