http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. In a breakthrough for nanotechnology and multiple sclerosis, a biodegradable nanoparticle turns out to be the perfect vehicle to stealthily deliver an antigen that tricks the immune system into stopping its attack on myelin and halt a model of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) in mice, according to new Northwestern Medicine research. http://phys.org/news272462122.html Nanotechnology Sun, 18 Nov 2012 13:00:28 EST news272462122 The development of a new cell-culture system that mimics how specific nerve cell fibers in the brain become coated with protective myelin opens up new avenues of research about multiple sclerosis. Initial findings suggest that myelin regulates a key protein involved in sending long-distance signals. http://phys.org/news230482376.html Chemistry Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:53:10 EST news230482376 Laboratory studies by chemical engineers at UC Santa Barbara may lead to new experimental methods for early detection and diagnosis -- and to possible treatments -- for pathological tissues that are precursors to multiple sclerosis and similar diseases. http://phys.org/news225385728.html Nanotechnology Mon, 23 May 2011 16:09:14 EST news225385728 Fumaric acid salts have been in use against severe psoriasis for a long time. About ten years ago, researchers in Bochum speculated that they may also have a favourable effect on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) as a result of their TH2 polarizing mechanisms. In parallel to phase III studies, research is actively searching for the precise effective mechanisms. This has now been achieved by a neuroimmunological group at Bochum: fumaric acid salts detoxify radicals released during the inflammation process. In this way, they protect nerve and glial cells. Neurologists at the Ruhr University Hospital, St. Josef Hospital, working with Prof. Dr. Ralf Gold report early online in the leading neurology journal BRAIN. http://phys.org/news218724392.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:47:03 EST news218724392 New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine describes a key molecular mechanism in nerve fibers that ensures the rapid conductance of nervous system impulses. The findings appear online Jan. 27, 2011 in the journal Neuron. http://phys.org/news215267357.html Medicine & Health Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:29:36 EST news215267357 Successfully treating and reversing the effects of multiple sclerosis, or MS, may one day be possible using a drug originally developed to treat chronic pain, according to Distinguished Professor Linda Watkins of the University of Colorado at Boulder. http://phys.org/news209311586.html Medicine & Health Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:06:43 EST news209311586 Scientists have uncovered an alternative source for some of the damage associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), an incurable neuroinflammatory disorder. The research, published online by Cell Press on September 23rd in the journal Immunity, reveals a direct interaction between immune cells and neurons that plays a significant role in neuronal injury and may respond to therapeutic intervention. http://phys.org/news204463620.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:40:02 EST news204463620 Biologists at the California Institute of Technology have demonstrated a connection between multiple sclerosis (MS) -- an autoimmune disorder that affects the brain and spinal cord -- and gut bacteria. http://phys.org/news198765070.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:00:04 EST news198765070 A virus infection can incite the body to attack its own nerve tissue by activating unusual, disease-fighting cells with receptors for both viral and nerve proteins. The dual-receptor observation suggests a way brain and spinal cord nerve damage might be triggered in susceptible young adults afflicted with multiple sclerosis (MS). http://phys.org/news195469762.html Medicine & Health Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:09:44 EST news195469762 The proper transmission of nerve signals along body nerves requires an insulation layer, named myelin sheath. To be efficient this sheath is designed to have a certain thickness and Swiss researchers from the ETH Zurich have now discovered that proteins Dlg1 and PTEN interact to control the myelin sheath thickness. Recently published in Science their discovery improves our understanding of Charcot-Marie-Tooth neurodegenerative diseases and open a new avenue in the potential treatment of these incurable and debilitating diseases. http://phys.org/news192908075.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 May 2010 18:35:05 EST news192908075 A drug whose clinical benefit in treating multiple sclerosis was discovered at Rush University Medical Center was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on January 22 and is now available in the U.S. http://phys.org/news189693805.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:43:43 EST news189693805 (PhysOrg.com) -- There may be two distinct versions of multiple sclerosis, a study in both animal models and human blood samples suggests. What’s more, a patient’s responsiveness to the most popular first-line drug for this episodic and all-too-often recurring autoimmune condition seems to depend on which version that patient has. http://phys.org/news189066163.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Mar 2010 07:23:11 EST news189066163 About four out of every 10 cells in the brain are so-called oligodendrocytes. These cells produce the all-important myelin that coats nerve tracts, ensuring fast, energy-efficient transmission of nerve impulses. Mixed among them are proliferating but not particularly proficient precursor cells that are destined to become oligodendrocytes when needed but, for now, remain suspended in an immature, relatively undifferentiated state somewhere between stem cell and adult oligodendrocyte. http://phys.org/news187448771.html Medicine & Health Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:07:06 EST news187448771 Researchers at UTHealth have demonstrated in rats that transplanting genetically modified adult stem cells into an injured spinal cord can help restore the electrical pathways associated with movement. The results are published in the Feb. 24 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. http://phys.org/news186226834.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:40:45 EST news186226834 Previous studies have shown multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are more often born in spring than in any other season, indicating that there is an environmental risk factor for the disease. A paper in the journal Neurology, reviewed for f1000 Medicine by Emmanuelle Waubant and Ellen Mowry, now suggests that this seasonal effect is mediated by the gene HLA-DRB1. http://phys.org/news183987907.html Medicine & Health Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:45:49 EST news183987907 Using laboratory mice that had been bred to have brain changes similar to Alzheimer's disease, scientists were able to reduce two characteristic features of the disease by modifying the mice's immune systems with a special peptide (MOG45D) related to the myelin sheath that insulates nerve cells and nerve fibers. As a result, anti-inflammatory cells were recruited from the blood into the brain, dampening the local inflammatory response. http://phys.org/news182079824.html Medicine & Health Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:10:05 EST news182079824 (PhysOrg.com) -- Acute optic neuritis, an inflammation of the optic nerve, doesn't occur all that often. But for those who experience it, the vision loss, pain and nerve damage that often result are no small matter. A clinical trial is investigating whether or not a drug currently used to treat multiple sclerosis may protect the nerve from damage due to optic neuritis. http://phys.org/news180647068.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:44:55 EST news180647068 New findings from an international team of researchers probing the nerve-insulating myelin sheath were bolstered by the work of Boston College biologists, who used x-rays to uncover how mutations affect the structure of myelin, a focal point of research in multiple sclerosis and other neurological disorders. http://phys.org/news178295855.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:37:57 EST news178295855 Magnetic resonance images (MRI) of patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in childhood show that pediatric onset multiple sclerosis is more aggressive, and causes more brain lesions, than MS diagnosed in adulthood, researchers at the University at Buffalo have reported. http://phys.org/news177610613.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:40:02 EST news177610613 (PhysOrg.com) -- Psychiatry professor George Bartzokis introduces a new theory about the fundamental cause of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. http://phys.org/news172855170.html Medicine & Health Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:22:56 EST news172855170 The joint research, funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the UK MS Society as well as the National Institutes of Health and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, was conducted by scientists at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and University of Cambridge and was published today in the journal Genes and Development. http://phys.org/news165668931.html Medicine & Health Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:00:05 EST news165668931 It has been known for a long time that T cells can attack the body's own structures and, if they infiltrate the CNS, cause diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The T cells damage the myelin sheath, the material that surrounds and protects the fibers of nerve cells. This damage slows down or blocks messages between the brain and the body, leading to various symptoms of MS such as impaired movements. http://phys.org/news165489022.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:20:02 EST news165489022 Autoimmune disease is a condition in which the immune system attacks the body's own material just as aggressively as it would attack a foreign pathogen. Multiple sclerosis, MS for short, is just one such autoimmune disease, and is one of the most common neurological diseases in the 20 to 30 years age group. The disease can have very severe consequences for those afflicted, since the body's defenses attack the central nervous system. It has long been assumed that myelin is the most important target for the misdirected immune response. This white, fat-rich protective layer of specialized cells enshrouds the long extensions of neurons. However, the central nervous systems of MS patients also exhibit damage in the gray matter, where the nerve cell bodies are located. How the patient's disability develops depends greatly on the damage of the gray matter. An international group headed by medical scientist Professor Edgar Meinl of LMU Munich has now discovered a possible connection: The protein Contactin-2 is produced both in the myelin sheathing and by neurons in the gray matter - and is attacked by misdirected immune factors. "Our results suggest that these processes also play a role in MS patients," says Meinl. "It could even be that proteins existing both in myelin and in the gray matter are in fact the critical points of attack." http://phys.org/news160305310.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:15:33 EST news160305310 A preliminary study on the use of stem cells obtained from a patient's own adipose tissue in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) has shown promising results. The three case studies, described in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Translational Medicine support further clinical evaluation of stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells in MS and other autoimmune conditions. http://phys.org/news159776574.html Medicine & Health Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:23:23 EST news159776574 Anyone with a sweet tooth knows that too much of a good thing can lead to negative consequences. The same can be said about the signals that help maintain nerve cells, as demonstrated in a new study of myelin, a protein key to efficient neuronal transmission. http://phys.org/news152773248.html Biology Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:01:21 EST news152773248