February 9, 2012
Caltech researchers report a possible breakthrough in multiple sclerosis medicine in the latest issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Scientists led by Paul Patterson, the Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences at Caltech, have found a way to use tissue from the brain to help heal neurons damaged by the disease. The scientists developed a gene therapy to stimulate production of specialized nerve cells called oligodendrocytes that make material that protects neurons.
The therapy uses leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a naturally occurring protein.
“We’re using the brain’s own progenitor cells as a way to boost repair,” Benjamin Deverman, a postdoctoral biology student at Caltech and lead author of the paper, said in a statement.
“This new application of LIF is an avenue of therapy that has not been explored in human patients with MS,” Deverman said, adding the therapy might also help spinal-cord injury patients. Patterson and Deverman, who’ve done their initial research on mice, plan to develop their research to bring it closer to potential human clinical trials.
— Bill Kisliuk, Times Community News
Source: Pasadena Sun
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