National Multiple Sclerosis Society Grants $4.6 Million for Research in Myelin Repair

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system destroys the myelin sheath that protects the nerves throughout the central nervous system (CNS). Myelin also helps conduct electrical signals along nerve cells. Damage to the protective myelin coat interrupts signal transmission, resulting in debilitating symptoms. As myelin loss increases, the disease progresse and disability accumulates.

Advanced MS treatments have been effective at slowing down disease progression but fail to reverse the damage already incurred due to demyelination. In an effort to promote research that would help fill this gap, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society has dedicated $4.6 million in multiear funding for research focusing on myelin repair or efforts to protect the CNS from damage.

Five projects have already been selected to receive funding. These include one led by Meredith Hartley, Ph.D. of the University of Kansas, studying a type of cholesterol that may promote myelin repair and Jeffrey Huang, Ph.D., and his colleagues from Georgetown University are investigating a potential drug for myelin repair. A research team at Johns Hopkins University led by Michael Kornberg, M.D., Ph.D., is looking at the role of lipid metabolism in myelin repair.

Isabel Perez-Otaño, Ph.D., and her colleagues from the Alicante Neuroscience Institute in Spain are researching ways to target a specific brain protein that may inhibit myelin repair. Paul Tesar, Ph.D., and a team from Case Western University in Cleveland are investigating brain cells that become toxic in patients with MS.

The National MS Society hopes to advance research that may result in new therapies that promote remyelination.

“These projects may accelerate our ability to develop new treatments that restore function in people living with MS,” Bruce F. Bebo, Ph.D., executive vice president of research at the National MS Society said in a news release.