New Mouse Studies May Provide New Therapeutic Targets to Stop MS — Much research needed to translate to human MS

Two new studies published in the journal Nature Immunology suggest they have identified a mechanism necessary for prompting immune attacks in MS-like disease in mice. The two teams – led by Dr. Burkhard Becher (University of Zurich, whose science career was launched by a training grant and a prestigious Harry Weaver Neuroscience Award from the National MS Society, and Dr. Abdolmohamad Rostami (Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia), whose work is funded by the National MS Society, NIH and other agencies – report findings relating to a messenger chemical called GM-CSF (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor). Although much research is needed to translate these findings into results that will help people, they raise hope that this mechanism may serve as a good therapeutic target to test in clinical trials.

Read abstracts of Dr. Becher’s and Dr. Rostami’s studies, published online on April 24, 2011

Read a news article

Another study recently published in the journal Nature by a team led by Dr. Thomas Burris (Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, Florida), funded in part by the National MS Society, NIH and other funders, describes the ability of a new class of synthetic compound to specifically interfere with immune activity to suppress MS-like disease in mice. The investigators note that this new compound, called SR1001, and related ones, may have potential to be developed for MS, other autoimmune diseases and even metabolic disorders. Again, much research is needed to translate these basic findings into potential therapies that can be tested in people.

Read the journal abstract, published online April 17, 2011

Source: National MS Society