October 27, 2011
Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered a potential new drug target for Multiple Sclerosis that could prevent physical disability associated with the disease, once a new drug is developed.
In the first phase of MS, those with the condition have lots of inflammation of theirbrain cells, resulting in continuous cycles of inflammation attacks followed by recovery periods. In the second phase of the disease, the inflammation isn’t as severe, but this is the stage where physical disability sets in due to the effects from substantial numbers of brain cells being killed in the first phase of the disease.
When immune cells become active due to inflammation, they can pass through the blood-brain barrier and enter the central nervous system. Some of these activated immune cells secrete a molecule, known as granzyme B, that can get inside neurons and wreak havoc – ultimately causing brain cell death. Granzyme B is found in MS brain lesions – especially in the early stages of inflammation. This molecule can get into braincells through a “gatekeeper,” known as receptor M6PR.
Researchers with the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry discovered in lab experiments that if they prevent this granzyme B from entering neurons, “we can also prevent the killing of neurons,” says principal investigator Fabrizio Giuliani, whose work was recently published in the peer-reviewed publication, The Journal of Immunology.
“It is this loss of brain cells, in the long-term, which induces disability in those with MS,” he says. “This is a new drug target for MS that is specific for the neurodegenerative processes following inflammation.”
Giuliani, a researcher in the Division of Neurology and a practising neurologist, noted this latest research builds on previous findings by his colleagues within the faculty. Medical researcher and co-author Chris Bleackley made an earlier discovery about how granzyme B enters target cells through the receptor M6PR. Another faculty researcher discovered that the M6PR receptor is found mostly in neurons.
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