MS is an unpredictable, long-term disease, the primary feature of which is the erosion of myelin from nerve cells. The loss of myelin disrupts the flow of electrical signals in the body, often causing disability.  As MS can affect any part of the nervous system, symptoms of MS can vary widely. However, the most common symptoms include visual disturbance, mobility difficulties, extreme fatigue, and altered sensations. MS organizations have estimated that there are around 2.3 million people worldwide living with MS.  In the United States, there is no official tracking of MS nationwide. However, the preliminary results of a National MS Society study suggest that there could be as many as 1 million people in the U.S. with MS.

Recent stem cell research could lead to a new way of treating inflammatory diseases, such as multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes loss of myelin.  Myelin is the fatty coating that insulates the nerve fibers that carry electrical signals in the brain and the rest of the body.  Now, scientists from the University at Buffalo, NY, have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that could be preventing myelin repair in MS.

This inability to repair myelin in MS seems to have to do with a specific type of cell called a progenitor cell.  You can think of progenitor cells as “descendants” of stem cells that have not yet fully matured into a final cell type. They can continue to divide as immature cells but cannot do this indefinitely like stem cells.  The UB research have found that MS stops the development cycle of the progenitor cells and places them in a deactivated state called pathological quiescence.

The UB researchers published their work in Cell Reports.  This research identifies the culprit of the progenitor cells’ quiescence as a protein called Paired Related Homeobox Protein 1 (PRRX1).

MS is a disease that destroys myelin

Many experts believe that MS is an autoimmune disease – that is the body’s own immune system launches an inflammatory attack on healthy nerve myelin as though it were posing a threat.

What might be preventing myelin repair?

In the UB study, the research team focused not so much on the destruction of myelin as on what might be preventing its repair.  They focused on the gene that effects the protein PRRX1 and stops the cell development of progenitor cells.  The researchers demonstrated in a mouse model of a childhood disease called leukodystrophy, that “switching this gene on and off” can prevent the formation of myelin or destroys it.