Newswise — After a brain injury, cells that normally nourish nerves may actually kill them instead, a new study in rodents finds. This “reactive” phenomenon may be the driving factor behind neurodegenerative diseases like glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness.
Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the study examined what happens when pressure builds up in the eye and damages the nerve cells that connect the eyes and brain. Although experts have long linked this condition to glaucoma, it remained unclear how excess pressure leads to cell death.
The new investigation revealed that increased pressure drove astrocytes ― a star-shaped glial cell of the central nervous system ― to release as-yet-unidentified neuron-killing toxins, possibly to “clear away” damaged cells. Meanwhile, excess pressure had little effect on nerves when astrocytes were not…
