MS patients have higher spinal fluid levels of suspicious immun... ( St. Louis Sept. 29 2008 A protein t...)

MS patients have higher spinal fluid levels of suspicious immune molecule

Date:9/29/2008

St. Louis, Sept. 29, 2008 A protein that helps keep immune cells quiet is more abundant in the spinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), further boosting suspicion that the protein, TREM-2, may be an important contributor to the disease.

More of an immune-control protein might seem like a boon to MS sufferers, whose symptoms are caused by misdirected immune attacks on the protective lining that coats nerve cell branches. But researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found the extra TREM-2 was not in the right place to reduce aggression in immune cells, a revelation that could eventually lead scientists to new pharmaceutical targets for MS prevention.

"Previously, TREM-2 had only been seen on the surface of immune cells; in the new study, we found it floating freely in spinal fluid," says lead author Laura Piccio, M.D., Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow. "This is only speculation for now, but these 'free agent' copies of TREM-2 could be making it harder for the TREM-2 that is attached to immune cells to keep the cells' aggressiveness under control."

Piccio explains that TREM-2 is a receptor protein, which means that another molecule activates it. Scientists don't currently know what that other molecule is, but the "free agent" TREM-2 in the spinal fluid could be binding to the molecule, reducing the chances that it will bind to and activate TREM-2 attached to immune cells. If Piccio and her colleagues can confirm their theory, the TREM-2 in the spinal fluid or its unknown partner could become targets for new MS treatments. The findings appear in the journal Brain.

Epidemiologists estimate that 400,000 people in the United States have MS. Symptoms, which often strike in episodic bursts, include bladder and bowel dysfunction, memory problems, fatigue, dizziness, depression, difficulty walking, numbness, pain and vision problems. The disease is more common among Caucasians than any other
'/>"/>

Contact: Michael C. Purdy
purdym@wustl.edu
314-286-0122
Washington University School of Medicine
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3
Related medicine news :

1. Scams and Shams That Prey on Cancer Patients
2. VA, DoD Electronically Hand Off Records of Wounded Patients
3. Cancer patients who receive neoadjuvant therapy followed by mastectomy may not need radiation
4. How to select anti-hepatitis B virus agents for drug-resistance patients?
5. ALS Patients and Researchers Unite in Boston for 4th Annual Leadership Summit
6. Ovarian and Endometrial Cancer Patients Experience Improved Outcomes When Treated First by a Gynecologic Oncologist
7. Hormone Therapy Not Best for Older Prostate Cancer Patients
8. Whole brain radiation increases risk of learning and memory problems in cancer patients
9. Results From IMPROVE Study Show Therapeutic Effect of New Formulation of Rebif(R) at 16 Weeks in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis
10. Book Proceeds Help Cancer Patients at Phoenix Childrens Hospital
11. Strategies for preventing gastrointestinal complications in severely burned patients

Post Your Comments:

MS patients have higher spinal fluid levels of suspicious immun...( St. Louis Sept. 29 2008 A protein t...),Health