MS Research Roundup: January 18, 2015

MS Research Roundup collects items of interest to multiple sclerosis researchers from around the Web. Send us your tips: tips@msdiscovery.org.

Hints of Remyelination in Clinical Trial

A newsmaking experimental molecule aimed at restoring lost myelin may work to restore function of a nerve damaged by acute inflammation. Or not. Those are the mixed responses to a press release reporting “proof of biology” for anti-LINGO-1 (BIIB033, Biogen Idec) in a phase 2 study of 82 people with acute optic neuritis that ended in October. The antibody is meant to enable oligodendrocyte precursor cells to grow up into myelinmaking cells and restore the membrane around axons in the central nervous system. The company reported a positive trend in the transmission speed of the optic nerve—the primary outcome—but it was statistically insignificant. The study, called RENEW, also missed its secondary outcomes. The high-profile antibody is being followed closely for the first signs of altering the course of disease by enhancing remyelination. More detailed results will be presented at the April 2015 meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Washington, D.C., said Biogen CEO George Scangos, Ph.D., in a webcast Monday at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. The drug is also being tested in a phase 2 study, dubbed SYNERGY, for progressive MS in combination with interferon β-1a (Avonex, Biogen Idec). Results from the fully enrolled MS trial are expected in 2016. As MSDF reported last August, the antibody passed its safety and tolerability phase 1 testing, according to a study published last summer. (Biogen Idec, BioWorld, Boston Business Journal, ClinicalTrials.gov, UpToDate, Wall Street Journal)

Diaper Gel Facilitates High-Resolution Microscopy

Researchers from MIT have cooked up a new method of high-resolution microscopy by pumping brain cells full of a smart gel—a type of polymer that can change its properties. The particular smart gel they used is found in baby diapers and swells on contact with water. To put it in the neurons, the researchers use a detergent to partially open up the cell membrane. They introduce the polymer and then use water and salt to trigger the reaction. The results, published online January 15 in Science, are cells more than four times their normal size with their structure and position to surrounding cells remaining otherwise intact. The work will be exciting to anyone who has strained to make heads or tails of a microscope image. This form of “expansion microscopy” may provide a cheaper alternative to buying expensive, high-resolution microscopes. (Gizmodo Australia, Nature, New Scientist, Science, WBUR: CommonHealth)

Neuroscience With a Conscience

There’s no doubt that modern research into basic neuroscience is an admirable quest—one that champions the greater good of humanity by squashing (or at least understanding) the many ailments of the brain. But how often do scientists step back and ask themselves the hard moral questions about the impact of their daily routine on the world? Between animal testing, working with toxic materials, and intellectual-property issues, some researchers feel they must clear a few moral hurdles every day. One team of neuroscientists is challenging the status quo by refusing to work with animals, taking extra care with the materials they work with, and being choosy about their funding. These researchers, in their “Green Neuroscience Laboratory,” use tissue harvested from living human subjects and attempt to recycle and repurpose lab equipment all while studying questions related to consciousness and free will. But while they insist their methods are attainable to all researchers, it’s unclear how practical those goals would be for the average MS researcher. Surveying the question of animal testing, for example, a PubMed search on “experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis” yields well over 10,000 results. The Green Neuroscience Laboratory shares a home in San Diego, California, with NeuroLinx, a nonprofit research institute devoted to open-source science and corporate-free funding. NeuroLinx conducts research on multiple sclerosis, though they don’t have the same standards as The Green Lab for animal testing and nontoxic laboratory materials. (The Green Laboratory, NeuroLinx, The New York Times, PubMed)

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