myelin

#MSParis2017 – Trial to See if Disease-modifying Therapies Not Necessary in Older MS Patients This tops my list this week because, at age 69, I certainly fit the definition of an “older” MS patient. The study is hoping to enroll 300 MS patients in the U.S. who…

The generation of a thin myelin sheath during remyelination — one that continues to protect nerve cells over time — is indicative of the long-term health and activity of the central nervous system (CNS) in demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows. These findings, which aim…

Researchers, using two different kinds of stem cells in rats, were able to regenerate oligodendrocytes — myelin-producing brain cells that are defective in multiple sclerosis (MS). They were also able to grow adult neural stem cells in laboratory cultures and prod them to develop into oligodendrocytes. The exact cause of MS is unknown — including what triggers attacks on myelin — but the loss of oligodendrocytes seen in the disease is known to play a role in its progression. Nerve cells in the brain send their signals through their axons, long arm-like structures that extend out from the centers of the nerve cells. The signals are electrical pulses transmitted along the length of an axon. Oligodendrocytes provide the insulation — called myelin — that wraps around axons, speeding up the transmission of electrical signals through the nerve cells. Loss or malfunction of oligodendrocytes means that signaling in the brain is impaired. It is this slowing of signaling that is thought to cause MS symptoms. Researchers from the Heinrich-Heine-University, Germany, with support from British and Chilean colleagues, designed a novel approach to regenerate oligodendrocytes, according to a press release. Stem cells are immature cells that give rise to differentiated cells — cells with a specific function, such as oligodendrocytes. Adult neural stem cells can divide and produce nerve cells and other brain cells, including oligodendrocytes. However, in normal circumstances, the regeneration of cells that take place in the human brain is not enough to repair the damage seen in MS. The researchers set out to find conditions that would promote the differentiation of adult human NSCs into oligodendrocytes. They discovered that another type of stem cell, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), could provide the signals required. First they tested their system in rats, and found that by using factors produced by human MSCs, they could induce the growth of new oligodendrocytes in the animals. Then they grew adult NSCs in the laboratory, and using the same factors from human MSCs were able to promote the establishment of oligodendrocytes in the cultured cells.

GeNeuro‘s humanized antibody GNbAC1 promotes the rejuvenation of the myelin coating that protects nerve cells in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, or RRMS, a Phase 2 clinical trial shows. The treatment is also safe, the study showed. Dr. Hans-Peter Hartung of the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf in Germany presented the results at the 7th…

The Japanese company MediciNova‘s anti-inflammatory agent ibudilast slows multiple sclerosis patients’ brain shrinkage and their loss of the protective myelin coating around nerve cells, a Phase 2 clinical trial shows. Robert J. Fox of Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute presented the results at the 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting in Paris, Oct. 25-28.

Inhibiting a protein found at high levels in immune cells located in the brain can rejuvenate myelin, the protective coating around nerve cells, according to a multiple sclerosis study in mice. Blocking the protein, known as the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor, or CSF1R, can also prevent the immune cells from…

People with a demyelinating disease associated with antibodies against a myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), most often develop episodes of optic neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve) that can be treated with corticosteroids, according to data presented today at the 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting from Oct. 25-28 in Paris. MOG antibody-associated demyelination is a…

There’s been some internet buzz recently about the possibility of an over-the-counter allergy drug that helps to repair the myelin that MS damages. The drug is clemastine fumarate, and I suspect that some of that buzz may have been generated by headlines found on Twitter and…

Common Allergy Treatment Restores Protective Neuron Coating in MS, Trial Suggests This is the kind of news we all hope to hear. A treatment that will repair our frayed “wires” and, in doing so, restore some of the function that MS has stolen from us. This is…

Scientists have been trying to find a way to restore a protective covering around nerve cells whose loss leads to the neuron damage associated with multiple sclerosis. A team at the University of California, San Francisco may have found a way to do it. And perhaps surprisingly, the possible solution…

Groundbreaking evidence of the existence of lymphatic vessels in the human brain could answer the question of how the brain gets rid of waste products, and holds clear implications for neuroinflammatory disorders such as multiple sclerosis. The lymphatic system is a network that helps the body to rid itself of toxins and waste products. Lymphatic vessels, which are similar to blood vessels, transport a clear fluid – lymph – which is filtered in lymph nodes. It has long been thought that the brain lacks lymphatic vessels. However, a team of researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), building on previous research in rodent brains, recently found evidence that the brain may actually drain waste through lymphatic vessels. The researchers injected healthy volunteers with a magnetic dye called gadobutrol, which is usually used as a contrast agent to image blood vessels. They then scanned the brains of these individuals using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) under specific settings. This allowed them to view the dye within the outer layer of the brain, known as the dura. The MRI revealed that the dye was visible both as dots and straight lines, which might indicate lymph vessels. This suggested that the dye leaked out of blood vessels into the dura and were later 'picked up' by lymphatic vessels. These vessels were not seen when the volunteers were injected with another dye that does not leak out of blood vessels. Evidence of lymphatic vessels in the brain was also found in autopsied human brain tissue. Although a pair of 2015 studies had shown evidence of lymphatic vessels in the brains of mice, this is the first study that demonstrates that a similar system exists in human brains. “For years we knew how fluid entered the brain. Now we may finally see that, like other organs in the body, brain fluid can drain out through the lymphatic system,” Reich said . In addition to changing the way we think about the lymphatic system and the brain, this study lays the foundations for future research to investigate whether the function of the lymphatic system is altered in the brains of patients with multiple sclerosis or other disorders affecting the nervous system.

A substance that the pancreas secretes can promote the regeneration of the protective nerve-cell coating that is damaged in multiple sclerosis, a mouse study shows. The substance is fibroblast growth factor 21, or FGF21. It promotes remyelination, the renewal of the myelin sheath protecting the central nervous system, according to the…

of the neurons.

Multiple sclerosis damages human brains, so MS researchers often study mice brains. How can multiple sclerosis be cured or prevented without studies of human brains? Researchers need the anatomical bequests of MS brains. Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center Harvard University specifically collects and studies brains (and brain tissue),…

In case you missed them, here are some news stories that appeared in MS News Today that caught my eye over the past week: Q Therapeutics Approved to Start Trial of Cell Therapy Aiming to Restore Myelins Those of us with MS know that if something can…

A cell therapy intended to boost myelin regeneration — Q-Cells by Q Therapeutics — has received a green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with a clinical trial in patients with transverse myelitis (TM), a disease that like multiple sclerosis is characterized by myelin damage. FDA approval of the company’s Investigational New…

In case you missed them, here are some news stories that appeared in MS News Today that caught my eye over the past week. Experts Call for Tighter Regulation of Stem Cell Therapies in Use at Clinics Worldwide I read a lot of comments on various social…

A herpes virus that lies dormant in many people can hinder the repair of the neuron-protecting myelin sheath whose deterioration causes multiple sclerosis, a study reports. The finding about the HHV-6 virus may help explain differences in the symptoms and progression of the disease from person to person, researchers said.

B-cells of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) secrete substances that are toxic to both neurons and neuron-protecting myelin-forming cells, causing both kinds to die, according to a study. Despite analyses of numerous inflammatory and other factors believed to drive MS processes, researchers were unable to identify the molecules that are toxic, however. Dr. Robert Lisak of Wayne State University in Detroit, Dr. Amit Bar-Or of McGill University in Montreal and their teams are now working on identifying the factor, and learning if the process is also involved in progressive MS. Their study, “B-cells from patients with multiple sclerosis induce cell death via apoptosis in neurons in vitro,” was published in the Journal of Neuroimmunology. It demonstrated that B-cells gathered from the blood of RRMS patients killed lab-grown neurons and oligodendrocyte cells, which form myelin, a protecting coating for nerve cells. Deterioration of the myelin coating and the death of neurons are hallmarks of MS. An earlier study the team conducted indicated that B-cells from MS patients could kill oligodendrocytes. But since the experiments involved only three patients and three controls, the team scaled up their experiments to include 13 patients and an equal number of controls. Both rat and human neurons died when mixed with MS-derived B-cells. In contrast, B-cells from healthy people had little or no impact on the survival of the brain cells. Researchers also discovered that the secreted toxic molecules had no impact on other types of central nervous system cells — astrocytes and microglia. The toxins killed only neurons and myelin-producing cells. The B-cells triggered a process called apoptosis, or programmed cell death, researchers said. This is basically a suicide program. It tells a cell to die when exposed to stressful factors or toxins. The process differs from cell disintegration. Despite thoroughly screening about 40 inflammation-related substances, researchers were unable to identify any factors that caused the cells to die. The National MS Society and the Research Foundation of the MS Society of Canada funded the research, which the U.S. society highlighted in a news release. In the newest phase of the study, researchers will try to learn more about the processes underlying neuron and myelin-related cell deaths and identify the factors responsible. In addition to testing B-cells from progressive MS patients, the team will examine patients with other autoimmune conditions to see if the process is unique to MS or not. Researchers increasingly realize that B-cells are important to MS processes. This observation was underscored by U.S. regulators' approval of the B-cell depleting therapy Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) at treatment for both relapsing and primary progressive MS.

Researchers managed to change the immune system — replacing inflammation with immune tolerance — in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS) using so-called quantum dots, or nano-sized particles carrying pieces of myelin. Experiments with this advanced technological solution may help researchers design MS therapies that are based on promoting regulatory T-cells rather…

A cytomegalovirus infection triggers an increase in inflammatory and cytotoxic immune cells in mice with multiple sclerosis (MS), which leads to enhanced inflammation and loss of nerve-protecting myelin. The study, “Cytomegalovirus infection exacerbates autoimmune mediated neuroinflammation,” was published in the journal Scientific Reports. A cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection…

A physical scaffold that allows lab-grown brain cells to grow in a three-dimensional manner is giving scientists a whole new way of studying the regeneration of myelin, nerve coatings whose damage is at the heart of multiple sclerosis. The scaffold is allowing researchers to test large numbers of compounds for…

Brain stem cells from primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) patients lack the ability to repair brain damage and to trigger the maturation of protective myelin-producing cells, a surprising study with far-reaching implications indicates. The study also showed that stem cells from individual patients reacted differently to compounds developed to trigger…

Using a small RNA molecule belonging to the family of microRNAs (miRs), scientists could restore myelin in nerve cells and improve limb function in mouse models of human multiple sclerosis (MS). The study, “miR-219 Cooperates with miR-338 in Myelination and Promotes Myelin Repair in the CNS,” was published in…

High levels of a protein called Rab32 may contribute to the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), leading to neuronal loss, a new study concludes. The study, “Rab32 connects ER stress to mitochondrial defects in multiple sclerosis,” appeared in the Journal of Neuroinflammation. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is involved in the production…

The United States has granted a patent to Kadimastem’s stem cell-based technology for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) and other diseases of the nervous system. The patent involves the technology the company used to produce supporting cells in the central nervous system derived from human stem cells, including myelin-producing cells. The United…

Here is my Pick of the Week’s News, as published by Multiple Sclerosis News Today. Ocrevus and the hope of ‘ending MS forever’: Interview with MS Society’s Tim Coetzee Ocrevus possibly being one of the most significant advances in MS treatment, especially for people with PPMS, the…

Regulatory T-cells in the central nervous system trigger the maturation of stem cells that increase the production of myelin at injured neurons — a discovery that places the idea of regeneration in multiple sclerosis (MS) in a whole new light. Myelin is a substance essential to the functioning of the…

The idea of repairing damaged axons — a key component of advancing disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) — just got closer to reality, with the discovery that a compound found in fungi triggered axon regeneration, making damaged axons grow “like weeds.” Scientists have long struggled to find compounds that stimulate the…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are three to six times more likely to develop epilepsy than the general population, a study says. Researchers believe the loss of myelin in certain neurons — a hallmark of MS — is what causes the seizures. The study was published in the journal…