Innervation Innovation

From swinging our running legs, to pulling our eyes shut in bright light, muscles stretch behind every move we make. To control them, nerve cells called motor neurons carry signals from the brain and central nervous system towards bundles of muscle fibres, helping to shape patterns of contractions. Injury can damage these connections, reducing movement – but nerve transplants may be an answer. This muscle, from a rat’s paw, has a mixture of two types of muscle fibre (highlighted in yellow and green). Transplanting paw muscle’s nerve to reconnect, or innervate, a bicep in the front leg had a surprising effect – the leg muscle changed, developing a fibre pattern similar to the paw. That muscle adapts to match the specific nerve 'plugged in' during transplant raises hopes for future surgeries, and the design prosthetic tissues with a greater chance of settling in to life.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image from work by Konstantin D. Bergmeister and colleagues
• CD Laboratory for the Restoration of Extremity Function, Department of Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence
• Published in Science Advances, January 2019