A new treatment for people with multiple sclerosis, based upon an innovative scientific process may be on the horizon.
In a nutshell, skin cells would be reprogrammed into brain stem cells, then transplanting them into the central nervous system. A study using mice shows these stem cells may reduce inflammation and reverse the nerve cell damage in progressive MS.
A satisfactory outcome may be a long way off, but any development of another treatment for progressive MS is welcome.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge, in the UK, are behind the study. Their report, “Macrophage-Derived Extracellular Succinate Licenses Neural Stem Cells to Suppress Chronic Neuroinflammation”, appeared in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Microphages that live in the brain and spinal cord are called microglia. Although they protect the body, microglia can participate in the development of progressive forms of MS. They do this by attacking the central nervous system, causing nerve cell damage.
Neural stem cells are able to differentiate into any type of nerve cell. They are thought to regulate immune response and inflammation in the central nervous system.
While researchers, in the past, have collected neural stem cells from embryos, they were unable to gather enough cells for treatments. This caused University of Cambridge scientists to decide to try reprogramming skin cells into neural stem cells.
Less chance of attack
The premise of the mouse study was to use autologous skin cells – that is to collect them from the same person who will receive them. In this way, researchers thought that there will be less chance that the immune system will attack the stem cells.
Transplanting neural stem cells and progenitors of these stem cells into the cerebrospinal fluid of mice:
- improved the animals’ chronic nerve cell inflammation;
- reduced the animals’ succinate levels and switched their macrophages and microglia from a pro- to an anti-inflammatory state;
- led to a decrease in inflammation and less damage to the central nervous system.
Dr Stefano Pluchino.
Dr Stefano Pluchino, a principal researcher in Cambridge’s Department of Clinical Neurosciences, is the study’s lead author. He said: “Our mouse study suggests that using a patient’s reprogrammed cells could provide a route to personalized treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, including progressive forms of MS.
“This is particularly promising as these cells should be more readily obtainable than conventional neural stem cells and would not carry the risk of an adverse immune response.”
Wellcome Trust research training fellow Luca Peruzzotti-Jametti said the discovery would not have been possible without a multidisciplinary collaboration. “We made this discovery by bringing together researchers from diverse fields, including regenerative medicine, cancer, mitochondrial biology, inflammation and stroke, and cellular reprogramming.”
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50shadesofsun.com is the personal website of Ian Franks, a freelance medical writer and editor for various health information sites. He enjoyed a successful career as a journalist, from reporter to editor in the print media. He gained a Journalist of the Year award in his native UK. Ian received a diagnosis of MS in 2002 and now lives in the south of Spain. He uses a wheelchair and advocates on mobility and accessibility issues.
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