Researchers from Wayne State University School of Medicine, partnered up with colleagues in Canada and have recently found a substance which is produced by a type of immune cell in people with multiple sclerosis.
This could be a vital role in the diseases progression, not forgetting that this finding could lead to new therapies for MS patients.
Robert Lisak, M.D., lead author of the study explained that B Cells are part of a subset of lymphocytes which later on becomes immunoglobulin, however when matured immunoglobulin it produces plasma cells. B Cells have been found to play another role, in this role they help control other lymphocytes, specifically T cells, and helps maintain a healthy immune system.
In patients with MS, the B Cells seems to be attracted to the substances produced in the nervous systems and the meninges, which caused the B Cells to attack the brain and spinal cord. Scientist involved in this research later found that these cells seem more active in MS patients.
The brain as we all know, can be divided into gray and white areas, the gray which contains neurons, and white which contains neurons, however these neurons send their axons, similar to electrical cables carrying messages, in order to communicate with other neurons and bring these messages from the brain to the muscles. The white part of the brain have their particular color since the oligodendrocytes produce myelin, which is a cholesterol-rich membrane that coats the axons. When the myelin coating is attacked messages from the brain to the rest of the body can be "derailed" from the target.
For this particular research, the researchers took B cells from the blood of seven patients with MS with relapsing-remitting MS and from four healthy patients, who did not have MS. The cells where grown in a medium, researchers later on collected the material after removing them from the culture. After they collected the material produced by the cell, they implanted them together with the cells that produced myelin, into the brains of animal models. By doing so, they found significantly more oligodendrocytes from the MS group died when compared to the material produced by the B cells from the healthy control group. The team also found differences in other brain cells that interact with oligodendrocytes in the brain.
"We think this is a very significant finding, particularly for the damage to the cerebral cortex seen in patients with MS, because those areas seem to be damaged by material spreading into the brain from the meninges, which are rich in B cells adjacent to the areas of brain damage," Lisak said.
The team of researchers is planning to keep on with their studies to identify which B cells toxic is responsible for killing oligondendrocytes. If they identify the substance it could lead to new therapeutic methods that could "turn off" the oligondendrocytes-killing capabilities of B cells, which, in turn, would help protect myelin from attacks.
Written by MS Awareness Team - Gabriel
Reference: MSRC
The brain as we all know, can be divided into gray and white areas, the gray which contains neurons, and white which contains neurons, however these neurons send their axons, similar to electrical cables carrying messages, in order to communicate with other neurons and bring these messages from the brain to the muscles. The white part of the brain have their particular color since the oligodendrocytes produce myelin, which is a cholesterol-rich membrane that coats the axons. When the myelin coating is attacked messages from the brain to the rest of the body can be "derailed" from the target.
For this particular research, the researchers took B cells from the blood of seven patients with MS with relapsing-remitting MS and from four healthy patients, who did not have MS. The cells where grown in a medium, researchers later on collected the material after removing them from the culture. After they collected the material produced by the cell, they implanted them together with the cells that produced myelin, into the brains of animal models. By doing so, they found significantly more oligodendrocytes from the MS group died when compared to the material produced by the B cells from the healthy control group. The team also found differences in other brain cells that interact with oligodendrocytes in the brain.
"We think this is a very significant finding, particularly for the damage to the cerebral cortex seen in patients with MS, because those areas seem to be damaged by material spreading into the brain from the meninges, which are rich in B cells adjacent to the areas of brain damage," Lisak said.
The team of researchers is planning to keep on with their studies to identify which B cells toxic is responsible for killing oligondendrocytes. If they identify the substance it could lead to new therapeutic methods that could "turn off" the oligondendrocytes-killing capabilities of B cells, which, in turn, would help protect myelin from attacks.
Written by MS Awareness Team - Gabriel
Reference: MSRC
