*MS Article*

[Guest guest]

BBC News 6 August 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5245048.stm

Target for new MS drugs revealed

Scientists say they have found a drug target for new therapies to aid

people with multiple sclerosis.

Blocking a cell signal in the nervous system alleviated MS symptoms in

mice, the German team told Nature Immunology.

Experts say more work is now needed to check that blocking this signalling

molecule, called NF-kB, will achieve the same desired effect in humans.

Every week in the UK about 50 people, typically aged between 20 and

40, are

diagnosed with MS.

The exact causes of MS are not known, but it is believed that MS is caused

by something foreign to the body, like a virus or a pollutant.

This causes the body's immune system to malfunction and start

attacking and

destroying the protective myelin sheath that coats the nerves in the brain

and spinal cord.

The disease affects people differently and symptoms can last for several

weeks to several months at a time.

Initially MS causes loss of balance, reduced vision and bouts of localised

paralysis. Eventually, patients may become totally paralysed and

wheelchair-bound.

[]

" This looks exciting. More and more is being discovered about MS at the

cell level "

, chief executive of the MS Trust

Scientists have known for some time that NF-kB is involved in MS. But it

was not clear whether NF-kB protected the brain cells against the

consequences of the disease or aggravated the damage.

To investigate this, Dr Marco Prinz and colleagues studied genetically

altered mice with an MS-like condition.

In these mice it was possible to turn NF-kB on and off by manipulating two

proteins, called IKK2 and NEMO, which activate the molecule.

Blocking IKK2 and NEMO, thereby switching off NF-kB, alleviated MS

symptoms

in the mice.

Given that the human NF-kB signalling network is very similar to that of

mice, the researchers believe compounds that inhibit IKK2 and NEMO should

be investigated further as potential MS treatments.

Dr Prinz said: " NF-kB regulates the production of messengers that are

released during inflammation to recruit and activate immune cells.

" Generally this is a good strategy to protect the body from

infections. But

in MS it is exactly these immune cells that cause the problem and their

hyperactivation through NF-kB only makes the situation worse. "

, chief executive of the MS Trust, said: " This looks exciting.

More and more is being discovered about MS at the cell level. "

However, he stressed that much more work was needed to determine whether

the same effects would be seen in humans.

Dr Lee Dunster, head of research and information at the Multiple Sclerosis

Society, agreed, saying: " We have to remember that what works in mice does

not unfortunately always work in men. "