Milan, Italy study used stem cells derived from mouse skin tissue to treat MS

An experiment was published Tuesday in Nature Communications by researchers at San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan and the University of Milan in Italy, that showed they were able to reduce nervous system damage in mice.

The mice were given experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a multiple sclerosis-like disease, and the researchers were able to hold the disease at bay by using stem cell therapy derived from skin from mice.

Cecilia Laterza, Ph.D., Gianvito Martino, M.D. and their fellow researchers were able to use skin cells taken from mice and “force them through” what they called “cell reprogramming” to make them myelinproduction cells.

Myelin is what coats the nerves, typically only the axon of a neuron, in the nervous system and protects the ability of the nerve to function properly. This is what multiple sclerosis (MS) attacks causing the various symptoms a patient feels.

Stem cell therapy has been an ongoing theme in research the last few years and previous studies of this type, where mice are given EAE and were able to show transplanted cells reduce inflammation and protect, but this team was able to take it further and show the “protective effect was mediated by a soluble factor released by the transplanted cells, called leukemia inhibitory factor.”

Each step these researchers take, though findings might seem a bit small, are absolutely huge when it comes to the possible therapies for people with the more aggressive-types of MS.

Read more

Visit our MS Learning Channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/msviewsandnews