MS research could help repair damage affecting nerves

Public release date: 21-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Tara Womersley tara.womersley@ed.ac.uk 44-131-650-9836 University of Edinburgh

Multiple sclerosis treatments that repair damage to the brain could be developed thanks to new research.

A study has shed light on how cells are able to regenerate protective sheaths around nerve fibres in the brain.

These sheaths, made up of a substance called myelin, are critical for the quick transmission of nerve signals, enabling vision, sensation and movement, but break down in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

The study, by the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge, found that immune cells, known as macrophages, help trigger the regeneration of myelin.

Researchers found that following loss of or damage to myelin, macrophages can release a compound called activin-A, which activates production of more myelin.

Dr Veronique Miron, of the Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said: "In multiple sclerosis patients, the protective layer surrounding nerve fibres is stripped away and the nerves are exposed and damaged.

"Approved therapies for multiple sclerosis work by reducing the initial myelin injury they do not promote myelin regeneration. This study could help find new drug targets to enhance myelin regeneration and help to restore lost function in patients with multiple sclerosis."

The study, which looked at myelin regeneration in human tissue samples and in mice, is published in Nature Neuroscience and was funded by the MS Society, the Wellcome Trust and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.

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MS research could help repair damage affecting nerves