Lu Lab Breakthrough
Hui-Chen Lu, Professor and Director of the Linda and Jack Gill Institute for Neurocience at IU, alongside graduate students Sen Yang and Zhen Xian Niou, found that nicotinamide nucleotide adenylyl transferase 2, or NMNAT2, provides energy to axons independent of the mitochondria. It does this by propelling glycolysis, a process in which glucose is broken down to produce energy. This gives axons enough energy to carry out nerve impulses to the brain and other parts of the body, keeping them healthy and functional. The enzyme can play a critical role in fending off neurodegenerative diseases like ALS, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s as people age.
The study can be found in Molecular Neurodegeneration.