Showing posts with label Magdalena Kegel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Magdalena Kegel. Show all posts

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Discovery of Brain-membrane Immune Cell May Advance MS Treatment Work:




December 20, 2016
by Magdalena Kegel

The discovery of a new type of immune cell in the membranes covering the brain is likely to advance understanding of the immune system’s impact on the brain, a study says. It could also lead to new treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Researchers knew the immune cell existed in organs that create barriers between our body and the outside world, such as the skin, gut, and lungs. The cells’ discovery in the brain is not only surprising, but also suggests the cells may play a role in communications between the microbes that inhabit other parts of our bodies and the brain.
The study, “Characterization of meningeal type 2 innate lymphocytes and their response to CNS injury,” was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
It is the second time in a year that the research team at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine has stepped into the spotlight. Last year, they discovered that the brain is lined with lymph vessels that scientists did not think existed there. The finding suggested that lymph vessels were a route for immune cells to move into the brain.
As the researchers did additional lymph-vessel studies, they discovered a new type of cell known as a type 2 innate lymphocyte. The cells were not in the lymph vessels, as one might imagine, but on the outside, surrounding the vessels.
In mouse experiments, the team found that the cells become activated after a spinal cord injury. When they added the cells to the brains of mice which lacked a factor crucial to the cells’ activation, they noticed improvement in recovery from a spinal-cord injury.
“This all comes down to immune system and brain interaction,” Jonathan Kipnis, chairman of UVA’s Department of Neuroscience and director of its Center for Brain Immunology and Glia, said in a press release.
“The two were believed to be completely not communicating, but now we’re slowly, slowly filling in this puzzle,” added Kipnis, the study’s senior investigator. “Not only are these [immune] cells present in the areas near the brain, they are integral to its function. When the brain is injured, when the spinal cord is injured, without them, the recovery is much, much worse.”
The team believes the cells do a lot more than just aiding in spinal-cord repair. Since the same type of cell is also found in the gut, they think the cells could be crucial to gut-brain communication. Several other studies have noted the importance of gut microbes to brain health.
“These cells are potentially the mediator between the gut and the brain,” Kipnis said. “They are the main responder to microbiota changes in the gut. They may go from the gut to the brain, or they may just produce something that will impact those cells. But you see them in the gut and now you see them also in the brain.”
He added: “We know the brain responds to things happening in the gut. Is it logical that these will be the cells that connect the two? Potentially. We don’t know that, but it very well could be.”
Although a lot more research needs to be done to understand what the cells do in the meninges, or brain membranes, the team is convinced they are involved in a range of neurological conditions.
“The long-term goal of this would be developing drugs for targeting these cells,” said Sachin Gadani, lead author of the study. “I think it could be highly efficacious in migraine, multiple sclerosis and possibly other conditions.”





In support of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research:

Never give up!











Tuesday, December 6, 2016

UV Light May Lead Way to New Treatment for MS and Inflammation:




by Magdalena Kegel
In News
November 29, 2016

Researchers have found a way to harness inflammation with the help of ultraviolet (UV) light, making it possible to design an anti-inflammatory treatment that is more specific and causes fewer side effects.

If this approach can be developed for clinical treatment, it likely will have a large impact on the lives of people with multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory conditions.

The study, “Chemical optogenetic modulation of inflammation and immunity,” was published in the journal Chemical Science.

HDACs (histone deacetylases) are molecules driving inflammation and controlling a range of other processes. Drugs that block HDACs are being investigated in conditions that include neurodegeneration and cancer, but their role in inflammation is only beginning to be explored.

Since HDACs exist in tissues throughout the body, a blocker often interrupts other enzyme actions than the one intended, resulting in unwanted side effects. To get around the problem, researchers at Cornell University designed a molecule that can activate a HDAC blocker using UV light.

“Currently, there aren’t a lot of tools that are able to manipulate the immune system in a spatio-temporal fashion,” Pamela Chang, an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, and the study’s senior author, said in a news release.

The team used an existing blocker and covered the part of the drug that interacts with HDAC with an additional molecule. This addition is set lose when the compound is exposed to UV light, allowing the drug to block HDAC.

“If you turned off all the HDACs in the body, you would probably be hitting a lot of pathways that you didn’t want to turn off,” said Chang. “We can control when and where we turn off the HDACs using light. The idea is that you can actually target the tissue that has chronic inflammation and regulate it by selectively inhibiting HDACs in the tissue that’s affected.”

In this way, the side effects of a treatment can be minimized.

So far, researchers tested the new compound in lab-grown cells, where UV-triggered drug actions reduced the levels of inflammatory molecules. The team also showed that the compound did not harm the cells.

“We are pushing the forefront of developing new technologies to control inflammation and the immune system, with the ultimate goal of being able to study these biological pathways and perhaps develop therapies for inflammatory diseases,” Chang concluded.




In support of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research:

Never give up!