Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys the myelin sheath that protects nerves throughout the central nervous system (CNS). Myelin also helps transmit electrical signals along nerve cells. Damage to the protective myelin coat blocks signal transmission and causes debilitating symptoms. As myelin loss increases, the disease progresses and disability accumulates.
Although advanced MS treatments are effective in slowing the progression of the disease, they cannot reverse the damage already done by demyelination. In an effort to accelerate research to fill this gap, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is directing $4.6 million in multi-ear funding to research focused on myelin repair and efforts to protect the central nervous system from damage.
Five projects have already been selected to receive funding. These include one led by Dr. Meredith Hartley. Researchers at the University of Kansas are studying a type of cholesterol that may promote myelin repair, and Dr. Jeffrey Huang and colleagues at Georgetown University are investigating drugs that may repair myelin. A research team at Johns Hopkins University led by Michael Kornberg, MD, is studying the role of lipid metabolism in myelin repair.
Dr. Isabel Pérez Otaño at the Alicante Neuroscience Institute in Spain and her colleagues are investigating ways to target specific brain proteins that can inhibit myelin repair. Dr. Paul Tesar and his team at Case Western University in Cleveland are studying toxic brain cells in MS patients.
The MS Society of America hopes to advance research that could lead to new treatments that promote remyelination.
“These projects have the potential to accelerate our ability to develop new treatments that restore function to people living with MS,” said Dr. Bruce F. Bebo, executive vice president of research at the National MS Society, in a news release. mentioned in.
