Netrins, a family of proteins that promotes nerve development is a potential powerful treatment for diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, and other illnesses as it demonstrated restoration of nerve and blood vessel growth in mice.

These are the findings of the researchers from the University Of Utah School Of Medicine headed by Dean Y. Li, M.D., Ph.D., a cardiologist and associate professor of internal medicine.

In the study, published last week in the journal Science Express, netrins not only accelerated blood vessel growth in ischemic mice (those with constricted blood flow) but they also restored blood vessel and nerve growth in diabetic mice.

"We now have a (growth) factor that attracts both blood vessels and nerves--that's why it's unique for diabetes," Li said. "This demonstrates that netrins are critical for development and may be important as a new therapy."

Li and fellow researchers from the University of Utah and Stanford already had shown Netrin-1, a member of the netrins family, promotes blood vessel growth in laboratory cultures. But, until now, it had not been demonstrated that netrins work in animals.

Read more at EurekAlert.

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