A new technology is designed to be a “wearable” device for neurons, wrapping around individual nerve fibers with a goal of achieving new ways to study and treat neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS). Still in early testing stages and needing further refinement, the technology was developed by scientists at…

A first group of healthy adults has been dosed in a Phase 1 safety and tolerability trial of Lucid-21-302, a potential myelin-protective oral treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), regardless of disease type. These initial volunteers will serve as the trial’s sentinels, an occasional study feature allowing for a…

A specific epigenetic marker, or a chemical modification in DNA that alters gene activity, may explain why adult oligodendrocyte progenitor cells respond differently to therapies aiming to restore myelin than their neonatal counterparts, a study reports. The modification, called a lysine eight acetylation on histone H4, helps to regulate…

A small molecule called ESI1 stimulated the repair of the myelin sheath, the fatty coating on nerve fibers that is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), a study found. In an MS mouse model, this resulted in improved motor function and nerve cell communication, as well as reduced signs…

Scientists have developed a technique to more precisely map the myelin sheath, the fatty covering around nerve fibers that is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), in people undergoing an imaging scan. While further work is needed, its use “produced promising initial results,” the scientists wrote, noting that this…

Myrobalan Therapeutics has secured $24 million in series A financing to support the development of oral medications for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), which comprises the brain and spinal cord. The company’s pipeline currently includes three candidate therapies…

Treatment with polysialic acid, a sugar molecule naturally made in the body, may be a promising approach to boost myelin repair in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study in lab-grown brain samples. Findings show that the molecule increased myelin repair, or remyelination, in the cell…

Nerve cells coated with myelin — the fatty substance that’s lost in multiple sclerosis (MS) — may be more vulnerable to degeneration in an inflammatory environment than cells lacking myelin, researchers working in MS patient tissues and mouse models report. The scientists believe the phenomenon arises when certain…

A detailed examination of nerve tissue isolated from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients showed changes to the myelin sheath before the appearance of substantial inflammatory activity and lesions, a study reported. In MS patients, normal-appearing brain regions showed a less compact, detached, and disorganized myelin composition that may make…

A protein called Mfsd2a, which transports molecules that contain omega-3 fatty acids, is essential for regulating cells that make the fatty coating on nerve fibers, or myelin sheath, that’s damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), a study indicates. In mice lacking Mfsd2a, the cells that make myelin, or oligodendrocytes, fail…

Frequency Therapeutics announced that it is shifting its focus to advancing small molecules that aim to restore myelin, the protective cover around nerve fibers that is damaged and lost with multiple sclerosis (MS). This decision follows the failure of an investigative treatment for people with acquired hearing loss to…

FSD Pharma has submitted an application to Health Canada asking to start a Phase 1 clinical trial of Lucid-MS, the company’s experimental and myelin-protective oral therapy for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The trial will not involve patients and is designed to investigate the safety and tolerability of…

An MRI technique called quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) can be used to accurately identify remyelinated brain lesions in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a research team has discovered. Remyelinated lesions are those in which the myelin sheath — the protective coating around nerve fibers that is progressively lost…

Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) has formed a committee to better address the needs and interests of veterans with multiple sclerosis (MS), including help with obtaining care and disability benefits. The nonprofit PVA is the only congressionally chartered veterans organization working to assist and represent veterans with spinal…

A decline in the activity of the GPR17 gene is responsible for age-related brain deterioration caused by the loss of myelin, a fatty substance that surrounds nerve cells like a sheath, a mouse study discovered. Researchers identified a small molecule that rejuvenated…

Levels of myelin sheath components called ceramides are altered in the blood of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and may be linked with retinal degeneration and physical disability, a study has found.  Specific ceramides were altered only in those with progressive…

Using a two-pronged approach, researchers were able to restore myelin on regenerated nerve fibers in a mouse model of optic nerve injury, which has implications for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other diseases associated with myelin loss, a study reported. The study, “…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a $45,000 grant to a team of investigators, led by Tia Walker, PhD, at Indiana University Northwest, to support a research project into the role of copper in multiple sclerosis (MS). The award is a first for IU Northwest, and will allow the team to…

Therapies aimed at regenerating the myelin sheath can work to restore proper brain activity and may be a viable way of treating multiple sclerosis (MS), according to researchers at the University of California San Francisco. In the study, “Accelerated Remyelination During Inflammatory Demyelination Prevents Axonal Loss And Improves Functional Recovery,” published…

In multiple sclerosis (MS), scientists have long believed that the body’s own immune system attacked myelin sheaths, the “insulating tape” that surrounds neurons, causing the disease. But researchers at Tel Aviv University are challenging that view, in a study reporting that MS may in fact be triggered by an instability inherent in the myelin membranes. The…

As Multiple Sclerosis News Today reported in mid-July, Endece Neural was issued an additional U.S. patent for its lead investigational product, NDC-1308. The drug is under development to repair the myelin sheath damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), a major causing disease progression and increasing disability. The sheath, an…