New Approach to Treatments for MS

Published May 17, 2013 by Science Daily

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130517152439.htm

Summary

New research done by scientists at UC Davis have found a new possible approach in improving drugs to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and other demyelinating diseases. MS is a disease in which the myelin sheath of neurons is damaged, slowing the transmission of nerve signals. The scientists identified a protein that could be targeted in designing drugs to treat the disease. The protein is known as mitochondrial translocator protein (TSPO) and is located on the outer surface of mitochondria. It was previously known but not linked to MS. Scientists identified the protein as a possible therapeutic target when mice with symptoms of MS were treated with the anti-anxiety drug etifoxine, which interacts with TSPO. The results of their study showed that mice given the drug before clinical signs of the disease then had less severe disease symptoms than those that were not treated. At the peak of the severity of MS, mice who were given the drug improved. The discovery of etifoxine’s beneficial effects in treating MS suggests that drugs that bind to TSPO may be able to help repair the myelin sheath, which is important because current FDA-approved treatments do not do so. 

Connection

This connects to our study of the nervous system, since the disease affects the myelin sheaths of neurons in the central nervous system. It also relates to our study of homeostasis and the relationship between structure and function; in MS, when the myelin sheath is damaged, function is consequently disrupted because the transmission of nerve signals is impaired.