Research on wound healing in worms may help diabetics
Diabetic patients who need to delay the long-term effects of chronically high blood sugar can buy cheap insulin and other over the counter medications through a Canadian internet pharmacy.
Diabetic patients who need to delay the long-term effects of chronically high blood sugar can buy cheap insulin and other over the counter medications through a Canadian internet pharmacy. One of the potential complications of diabetes is impaired wound healing. However, researchers from the University of California, San Diego, are studying C. elegans to learn more about wound repair.
These worms are ideal study subjects because they are small, transparent and have a quick healing response to surface wounds. Through a series of laboratory experiments and time-lapse movies, the scientists made three discoveries, as published Dec. 6 in the journal Current Biology.
Genetic testing allowed the scientists to identify the calcium channels that allow the worms' bodies to sense injury and commence the healing process. Secondly, the team observed how actin proteins, which are important to muscle movement, surround a wound and tighten up in order to help it close.
The scientists also discovered a protein known as DAPK-1, which acts as an inhibitor to the repair process.
"Wound healing in humans is a much more complicated situation than this of course," said researcher Andrew Chisholm. "But the hope is that by learning more about the basic biology of wound responses, we can eventually learn how to heal wounds more quickly or, in the case of the elderly or those with diabetes, overcome their weakened responses to healing."
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