"Reelin" in a New Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis
Phoenix666 writes:
"Reelin" in a new treatment for multiple sclerosis:
In an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS), decreasing the amount of a protein made in the liver significantly protected against development of the disease's characteristic symptoms and promoted recovery in symptomatic animals, UTSW scientists report.
[...] In 1997, researchers discovered a protein secreted in the brain called Reelin. Subsequent work showed that Reelin appears to help the brain organize itself during development and assist in forming connections between brain cells during adulthood. However, as researchers learned more about Reelin, they discovered that large amounts of it are produced in the liver and that cells lining blood vessels have receptors for this protein.
[...] Herz, Calvier, and their colleagues worked with mice affected by a disease called experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a condition that mimics human MS. When these animals were genetically modified so that the researchers could control Reelin production, they found that eliminating this protein substantially mitigated the disease's typical paralysis or even eliminated it altogether, in contrast to mice with normal Reelin levels. These effects appeared to stem from the lack of monocyte adhesion on the altered animals' blood vessel walls, which prevented entry into the central nervous system.
A potential new treatment for MS sufferers?
[Ed Note - "Calvier and Herz are shareholders of Reelin Therapeutics Inc. of La Jolla, California, along with co-author Maria Z. Kounnas, Ph.D., who is affiliated with Reelin Therapeutics. Calvier and Herz are co-inventors of a patent related to anti-Reelin strategies (application number 15/763,047 (patent pending) and publication number 20180273637). "]
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