Jun 14 2007, 11:54 AM EST
GEN News Highlights
alphaB-crystallin, a protein found
primarily in the lens of the eye, can
reverse paralysis when injected in a
mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS),
researchers at the Stanford
University School of Medicine
report.
alphaB-crystallin is not normally
found in the brain but develops in
response to the injuries inflicted on
nerve cells by multiple sclerosis. For
reasons not yet understood, the immune
system considers the expression of the
alphaB-crystallin protein in the brain a
danger signal and attacks this healing
substance.
"Like a runaway truck careening down
a mountain and then having the brakes
fall off, the immune attack against
alphaB-crystallin worsens the
situation," says Lawrence Steinman,
M.D., professor of neurology and
neurological sciences. And remarkably,
he notes, addition of that protein works
like restoring the failing brakes,
returning control.
When they gave injections of the
protein to mice with the equivalent of
MS, their paralysis was reversed. The
protein restored order by suppressing
the cellular processes causing the
damage. Dr. Steinman speculated that the
mechanism is tolerization, similar to
the process used in allergy shots when a
person with an allergy gets an injection
of the protein that is causing problems
for the body so it can learn to ignore
it.
Once the researchers had a grasp of
what was occurring in mice, they turned
to humans. Using a collection of spinal
fluid samples, Dr. Steinman's team
tested them on their antibody arrays.
They found that the highest antibody
response was directed against
alphaB-crystallin, leading the
researchers to speculate that the
protein could possibly reverse the
damage in humans as it does in mice.
Their findings were published in the
June 13 advance online edition of
Nature. |
