Coordinated stimulation of axon regenerative and neurodegenerative transcriptional programs by ATF4 following optic nerve injury (Updated September 25, 2024).

According to a preprint abstract from biorxiv.org, researchers have found that the stress-responsive kinase PERK plays a role in both neurodegenerative and regenerative responses following optic nerve damage. The study used conditional knockout mice to identify a PERK/ATF4-dependent transcriptional response that includes genes involved in both pro-apoptotic and pro-regenerative pathways. The findings suggest that PERK/ATF4 coordination is integral to the response to central nervous system axon injury. However, it is important to note that this preprint has not yet undergone peer review. [Extracted from the article]