Pathology Of Multiple Sclerosis Determined By Response To Immune Protein

"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 that comes under fire. The study - from researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and Washington University in St. Louis - were published online on October 13th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

In most MS patients, the disease primarily affects the spinal cord and the white matter of the brain. But a small percentage of patients develop an atypical form of the disease, which primarily affects the cerebellum - the part of the brain that controls sensory perception and movement. For these patients, the disease tends to progress more rapidly and the prognosis is particularly bleak.

MS ensues when the body's T cells invade the brain and trigger nerve-damaging inflammation, in part by secreting proteins called cytokines. According to the new study, lead by Washington University scientist John Russell, the brain's response to one particular immune protein, called interferon-g (IFNg), determines which part of the brain the T cells attack. In mice that are oblivious to IFNg (because they lack its receptor), mice suffer cerebellum and brain stem inflammation, but their spinal cords are spared. When IFNg receptors were left intact, the reverse occurred.

Exactly how the brain's response to IFNg directs the T cell attack is not yet known, but the authors suspect that IFNg triggers a localized production of T cell-attracting proteins in the spinal cord. Translating the details of the "conversation" between T cells and brain cells, suggests Russell, might bring scientists closer to understanding the variable manifestations of human MS."

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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[Quixotic1]

Thanks, so much for this.  Researchers have been looking for anything that would help explain why some people have a slower progression, some have a faster, some have predominantly sensory and others disabling motor symptoms.  This will be something to watch to see if it translates to humans.  The mouse model of experimental MS is a major tool for understand MS in humans.  In most ways, but not all, it does refelct the changes seen in the human disease.

I appreciate it so much when you and others watch the news and the MS sites to bring us this kind of information.  It makes us all so much more able to understand this thing.

I want to say that you and the others that keep up this kind of watch on MS knowledge have turned this forum into a much more sophisticated place.  It clearly attracts people because of the depth of what we offer.  

I am so proud of the evolution of our forum!

Thanks!

Quix

Quix