The evolution of nerves: understanding the roots of neurodegeneration

"轴突是神经元的细长延伸，可以是一米长，形成贯穿我们神经的生物电缆，以固定神经系统。在人类中，轴突必须存活长达世纪;我们在老年时失去了约40%的轴突，在神经退行性疾病中失去的轴突更多，但原因却知之甚少。 为了了解轴突的维护和病理学，我们将重点放在沿着所有沿着轴突运行的微管束（MT）上-无论是在微小的苍蝇还是在人类中[Ref1]。这些纤维束决定了轴突的结构，并形成了维持生命的轴突运输的高速公路。因此，MT束衰减引起轴突变性。但是维持这些束的机制（可能在病理学上失败!）很少有人了解"

"Axons are slender extensions of neurons which can be meter-long and form the biological cables that run through our nerves to hardwire the nervous system. In humans, axons must survive for up to a century; we lose ~40% of axons towards high age and many more in neurodegeneration, but the causes are poorly understood. To understand axon maintenance and pathologies, we are focussing on the bundles of microtubules (MTs) that run all along axons - be it in a tiny fly or in a human [Ref1]. These bundles determine axon structure and form the highways for life-sustaining axonal transport. Accordingly, MT bundle decay causes axon degeneration. But the mechanisms that maintain these bundles (and might fail in pathology!) are little understood "