Sclerosis in Biological News

Multiple sclerosis research charges ahead with new mouse model of disease

November 6, 2008, Cambridge, UK A new study highlights the role of a charge-switching enzyme in nervous system deficits characteristic of multiple sclerosis and other related neurological illness. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of several diseases in which myelin the insulator for electrica...

Potential new target for multiple sclerosis therapy

Researchers demonstrate both genetic and pharmaceutical evidence for the role of a protein called collagenase-2 in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), providing a potential new way to combat this debilitating disease. Collagenase-2 is a member of a protein family called matrix metallop...

Israeli scientists identify: Genes that affect responses of multiple sclerosis patients to copaxone

A group of Israeli scientists from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, the Weizmann Institute of Science and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries have recently identified genes responsible for the positive response of many multiple sclerosis patients to the drug Copaxone®. These findings m...

Tracking down the causes of multiple sclerosis

This release is available in German . Over 100,000 people suffer from multiple sclerosis in Germany alone. Despite intensive research, the factors that trigger the disease and influence its progress remain unclear. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried an...

UMMS researchers isolate first 'neuroprotective' gene in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

WORCESTER, Mass. A genetic variant that substantially improves survival of individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, has been indentified by a consortium of researchers led by John Landers, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology and Robert Brown, MD...

'Buckyballs' to treat multiple sclerosis

If you're of a certain age, you'll remember Buckminster Fuller's distinctive "geodesic domes" soccer-ball-shaped structures that the late futurist envisioned as ideal human domiciles. Tel Aviv University chemists remember them too and are now putting them to use in the treatment of multiple scle...

Acorda Therapeutics submits new drug application for Fampridine-SR in multiple sclerosis

HAWTHORNE, N.Y., February 2, 2009 Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOR) today announced the submission of a New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 30, 2009 for Fampridine-SR, a novel therapy being developed to improve walking ability in people with multi...

Response to immune protein determines pathology of multiple sclerosis

New research may help reveal why different parts of the brain can come under attack in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). According to a new study in mice with an MS-like disease, the brain's response to a protein produced by invading T cells dictates whether it's the spinal cord or cerebellum...

Gene Signatures Predict Interferon Response For Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) can be an unpredictable disease. It develops when the body's immune system attacks healthy nerve cells and disrupts normal nerve signaling. Patients experience a wide range of symptoms—including tingling, paralysis, pain, fatigue, and blurred vision—that can appear independe...

ISU researchers find possible treatment for spinal muscular atrophy

... believes this technology could also work treating other diseases. "We know that Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis and cancer all come from genes that are aberrantly spliced," he said. "If this is a model disease, meaning we succeed in treating Spinal Muscular At...

Common allergy drug reduces obesity and diabetes in mice

...d harm healthy host tissue in a kind of friendly fire. Malfunctioning Tregs, however, have recently been implicated in diseases as diverse as multiple sclerosis and certain cancers. "Now we're seeing that Tregs may be needed to prevent metabolic abnormalities as well," says Mathis. She adds, half joking, "A...

Researchers design first model motor nerve system that's insulated and organized like the human body

...del system will drastically improve understanding of the causes of myelin-related conditions, such as diabetic neuropathy and later, possibly multiple sclerosis (MS). In addition, the model system will enable the discovery and testing of new drug therapies for these conditions. MS, diabetic neuropathy, and ...

The right messenger for a healthy immune response

...should not fight against self-structures. "Our findings can help to develop or improve new therapeutics to combat autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis or cancer." ...

'Show me the money!' MDA greenlights grants

...basis for progressive treatments of muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, and spinal muscular atrophy. It also served...dy how defects in the blood-brain barrier contribute to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. Ilieva hopes to find a way to use genetic t...

MS study offers theory for why repair of brain's wiring fails

... new evidence suggesting that damage to nerve cells in people with multiple sclerosis accumulates because the body's natural mechanism for repair of the nerve co...ia O'Looney, Vice President of BioMedical Research at the National Multiple sclerosis Society. "Understanding such mechanisms should help advance the efforts to ...

Aussie and Kiwi researchers make double MS genetic discovery

... Australian and New Zealand researchers have accelerated research into Multiple sclerosis by discovering two new locations of genes which will help to unravel the causes of MS and other autoimmune disease. Their findings will be publis...

Rutgers research tackles childhood epilepsy

... had already shown promise in a different mouse model for treating tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a subtype of cortical dysplasia. "We demonstrated that ra... said D'Arcangelo. "This drug is being tested on human patients of tuberous sclerosis in a multicenter study involving six TSC clinics throughout the United Stat...

Brain-computer interface, developed at Brown, begins new clinical trial

...ger BrainGate research effort, the ultimate goal of which is to help patients with spinal cord injury, stroke, muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or limb loss turn their thoughts into actions, restoring independence, mobility, and communication. The work to date with BrainGate trial partic...

One size does not fit all

...ly prescribed class of drugs used by millions worldwide to effectively lower blood cholesterol levels, may actually have a negative impact in Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with high daily dosages. A new study by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University, demonstr...

Tips from the American Journal of Pathology

...jury. Am J Pathol 2009, 174: 2182-2189 AM80 Blocks Early Multiple sclerosis Researchers led by Drs. Takahashi Yamamura and Shinji Oki at the Nation...d AM80 is effective in treating early symptoms in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS). They report their data in the June 2009 issue of the American Journ...

Gene therapy could expand stem cells' promise

... to differentiate into any of the different tissues making up the human body, thus holding the promise of treating or curing diseases such as multiple sclerosis or spinal-cord injury by replacing diseased cells with healthy cells. But unlike other therapies such as chemotherapy, antibiotics or aspirin, ste...

Protein identified as critical to insulating the body's wiring could also become treatment target

...r." Impaired myelin formation and maintenance is implicated in a variety of neurological and psychiatric diseases including schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis and Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy, a genetic, progressive disease that weakens muscles. Cancer is an issue because the ErbB2 receptor also is an ...

Genetic study confirms the immune system's role in narcolepsy

...r. Mignot's findings also could lead to a better understanding of other autoimmune diseases where HLA genes are known to play a role, such as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes. ...

Microparticle immune response modifier shows broad effects against recurrent or metastatic cancer

...ed under compassionate release exemption to treat a small number of patients with chronic or life threatening illnesses including progressive multiple sclerosis and metastatic disease," said Simon Wilkinson, Innate Therapeutics' chief executive officer. "To date, MIS416 has shown itself to be safe and well tol...

New light on bipolar treatment drugs

...ery important over the next few years." Lithium is currently under clinical trial for the treatment of neurogenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, is published in the journal Disease Models and Mechanisms . ...

Researchers use brain interface to post to Twitter

...ect a communication system for users whose bodies do not work, but whose brains function normally. Among those are people who have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), brain-stem stroke or high spinal cord injury. Some brain-computer interface systems employ an electrode-studded cap wired to a computer. The...

Caffeine appears to be beneficial in males -- but not females -- with Lou Gehrig's disease

... NEW ORLEANSAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease that damages key neurons in the brain and spinal c...ty in the Brain of Female G93A Mice, An Animal Model of Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis (ALS) was conducted by Rajini Seevaratnam1 supervised by Mazen J. Hamadeh1,...

Caffeine appears to be beneficial in males -- but not females -- with Lou Gehrig's disease

... NEW ORLEANSAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease that damages key neurons in the brain and spinal c...ty in the Brain of Female G93A Mice, An Animal Model of Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis (ALS) was conducted by Rajini Seevaratnam1 supervised by Mazen J. Hamadeh1,...

Jefferson researcher awarded Landenberger Foundation grant for ALS research

...ty was recently awarded a Margaret Q. Landenberger Research Foundation grant to identify why drug therapies that showed promise in Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis (ALS) mouse models have proven unsuccessful in human clinical trials. Dr. Pasinelli and her research team will closely examine critical aspects of dr...

Vitamin D deficiency related to increased inflammation in healthy women

...n-diseased population. This may explain the vitamin's role in the prevention and treatment of inflammatory diseases, including heart disease, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. "The findings reveal that low vitamin D levels negatively impact inflammation and immune response, even in healthy women...

American Chemical Society Weekly PressPac -- April 1, 2009

..., April 6, 2009 Bonanza of new oral drugs offers hope for MS patients Chemical & Engineering News Years of scientific research on multiple sclerosis (MS) are showing signs of paying off, with almost a dozen potential new drugs in the final stages of clinical trials and moving toward pharmacy shelve...

Blood test predicts chance of dementia

...ate that progranulin also plays a role in the death of brain cells in other diseases of the brain, such as Alzheimer's disease and Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis (ALS). Predictive test On the basis of their research, Kristel Sleegers, a scientist in Van Broeckhoven's team, has developed a test for measu...

Epstein-Barr virus may be associated with progression of MS

...ty at Buffalo and the University of Trieste, Italy, have shown. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that can cause major disability. There curre...e study involved 135 consecutive patients diagnosed with MS at the Multiple sclerosis Center of the University of Trieste. Evaluations of the MRI scans were carr...

UCLA stem cells scientists make electrically active motor neurons from iPS cells

...lated diseases in the laboratory to uncover their causes. Motor neurons are lost in many conditions, including spinal cord injury, Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis and Spinal Muscular Atrophy. "A primary objective of human embryonic stem cell and human iPS cell technology is to be able to generate relevant cel...

Researchers generate functional neurons from somatic cells

... source of motor neurons that does not require human eggs or embryos could be an enormous boon to research into conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal cord injury and could open the door to eventual treatments. The study is published in Stem Cells . This study is the first to use...

Rett Syndrome Research Trust advisor makes significant discovery

...b of Dr. Tom Maniatis, a neurodegenerative disease researcher at Harvard University, have implicated glia in Lou Gehrig's disease (Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis ALS), a devastating neurodegenerative disorder that leads to the death of motor neurons and total paralysis. "In Rett Syndrome, faulty glia seem to p...

Genetic study shows direct link between vitamin D and MS susceptibility 'gene'

... Researchers have found evidence that a direct interaction between vitamin D and a common genetic variant alters the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). The research, published on 6 February in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics , suggests that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and the ea...

Researchers disprove 15-year-old theory about the nervous system

...in fact, do not. Understanding how the nervous system develops will give researchers a better understanding of neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorders. "Speed is the key to the nervous system," said Michael Garcia, investigator in the Christopher S. Bond Life Sc...

Researchers genetically link Lou Gehrig's disease in humans to dog disease

...stitute have found that the genetic mutation responsible for degenerative myelopathy (DM) in dogs is the same mutation that causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the human disease also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. As a result of the discovery, which will be published in the Proceedings of the National...

Mayo Clinic: Brain disorder suggests common mechanism may underlie many neurodegenerative diseases

...of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diseases, and even common depression and sleep disorders that are also hall...gs may change that view, they say. For example, in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a motor neuron disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, the molec...