Myelin News and Research

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Myelin is the fatty substance that covers and protects nerves.

Study offers hope for treatment of Krabbe disease

In one out of 100,000 infants, a mutation in the GALC gene causes an incurable, always fatal disorder known as infantile Krabbe disease, or globoid cell leukodystrophy. Most children with the condition die before they turn 2.

26 Aug 2020

Study reveals a promising method for treating multiple sclerosis

A research team led by neurobiologist Professor Claire Jacob has identified an important mechanism that can be used to control the restoration of myelin sheaths following traumatic injury and in degenerative diseases.

24 Aug 2020

Cashew shell compound may help repair damaged nerves

In laboratory experiments, a chemical compound found in the shell of the cashew nut promotes the repair of myelin, a team from Vanderbilt University Medical Center reports today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

17 Aug 2020

CU researchers discover key role of specific brain cells during development

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have identified how specific brain cells interacting during development could be related to neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, including some that occur later in life.

9 Jul 2020

Cerebrospinal fluid autoantibodies target the brain in some COVID-19 patients

A study conducted by German researchers has shown that the neurological symptoms observed in some patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be caused by autoantibodies targeting the brain.

7 Jul 2020

Researchers develop a potential treatment approach for Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease

A team led by Case Western Reserve University medical researchers has developed a potential treatment method for Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), a fatal neurological disorder that produces severe movement, motor and cognitive dysfunction in children.

1 Jul 2020

Immune system can be re-wired to prevent attack of healthy cells, study finds

The body's immune system can be re-wired to prevent it from recognizing its own proteins which, when attacked by the body, can cause autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, a significant new study by UK scientists has found.

9 Jun 2020

Researchers discover important molecular mechanism of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is the most common form of inherited neuropathies. A genetic mutation causes the insulating myelin layer of peripheral nerves to become progressively damaged, resulting in severe disabilities in the case of CMT type 4B, for instance.

8 Jun 2020

Study: Certain inflammatory demyelinating diseases belong to different category than multiple sclerosis

An antibody appears to make a big difference between multiple sclerosis and other disorders affecting the protective myelin sheath around nerve fibers, report Tohoku University scientists and colleagues in the journal Brain.

19 May 2020

CU researchers identify new way that nerve cells regenerate and repair after damage

Researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine have identified a new way that cells in the central nervous system regenerate and repair following damage.

18 May 2020

Inflammatory cells arise from local memory cells for advanced multiple sclerosis

In the brains of people that suffer from long-term multiple sclerosis (MS), inflammatory cells are not entering the brain via the bloodstream anymore.

14 May 2020

Study provides new insights on mechanisms that promote cancer

Like subway com muters on a crowded train, cells generally prefer not to be packed in too tightly. In fact, they have set up mechanisms to avoid this, a phenomenon called "contact inhibition." A hallmark of cancer cells is that they lack this contact inhibition, and instead become pushy, facilitating their spread.

14 May 2020

University of Wisconsin-Madison professor receives 2020 John Dystel Prize for MS research

This year's John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research goes to Ian D. Duncan, a neuroscientist and Professor of Neurology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for groundbreaking research on how myelin (the protective nerve coating in the brain and spinal cord) is damaged, particularly in multiple sclerosis (MS), and how it may be repaired.

11 May 2020

New nanobiosensor can help diagnose early-stage multiple sclerosis

Researchers at the Federal University of São Carlos in Sorocaba have developed a technique to diagnose early-stage multiple sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system, and distinguish it from neuromyelitis optica, a rare yet severe autoimmune inflammatory process also affecting the central nervous system.

23 Apr 2020