MS Research Roundup: February 2, 2015

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

New Regulatory Gene for Myelin-Making Cells

MS brains are full of potential myelin-making cells. If those progenitor cells would only differentiate into myelin-making oligodendrocytes, the reasoning goes, myelin could be restored before the neuron degenerates. In fact, the MS community eagerly awaits the next results for an experimental drug (BIIB033, Biogen Idec) targeting LINGO-1, designed to help those immature cells grow up. Now, two studies report discovery of a different molecular switch with similar therapeutic potential. A key gene, Gpr56, and certain molecular partners seem to block the progenitor cells from growing up too soon. The researchers found that if the precursor cells mature too early in the developing brain, they stop proliferating, ultimately leaving too few mature oligodendrocytes to myelinate the axons. One team in the lab of Kelly Monk, Ph.D., at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, worked with zebrafish. Without Gpr56, the axons developed normally, but mostly without myelin. Another team in the lab of Xianhua Piao, M.D., Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston showed similar defects in mice without the gene. In past work, Piao also has reported evidence that mutations in Gpr56 in people underlie a genetic disorder that causes brain malformations related to a lack of myelin. Monk is a co-author of both papers, published together January 21 in the open-access journal Nature Communications. (Nature Communications, Washington University News)

Google and Biogen Idec Team Up

Business titans Google Inc. and Biogen Idec recently announced plans to combine forces to study the environmental and biological contributions to multiple sclerosis. Specifically, Biogen Idec will partner with the life science labs of Google known as Google X. The goal of the project is to understand the heterogeneity of the disease. The team plans to tackle the challenge by “using sensors, software and data analysis tools [to] collect and sift through data from people with the disease,” according to Bloomberg Business. Biogen has used wearable digital sensors called “Fitbits” to track activity and gather data on MS patients in the past. Google X has also collaborated with Novartis to make a glucose-monitoring contact lens for people with diabetes, as well as a specialized spoon to help people with Parkinson’s disease eat even with tremor. (Bloomberg Business, Mobihealthnews.com) (Story tip from Laura Kolaczkowski)

The Science of Quitting Smoking

Studies suggest that smoking raises the risk of MS and makes the disease worse. Many recommend quitting “cold turkey,” or abruptly stopping. But there’s truth in the humorous quote, “Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it a thousand times.” New research explains why kicking the habit may be so difficult and suggests that it may be better to gradually step down. Neuroscientists at the University of Copenhagen monitored subjects’ brains 12 hours after their last cigarette and found that the brain’s oxygen uptake decreased by 17%. “Regular smokers experience an almost dementia-like condition in the early hours after quitting,” study author Albert Gjedde, M.D., D.Sc., said in a press release. “Smokers drift back into abuse, perhaps not to obtain a pleasant effect—that ship has sailed—but simply because the withdrawal symptoms are unbearable.” The authors suggested that it may take weeks to months for the brain to reestablish a normal metabolism after smoking cessation, though they aren’t positive about the exact time frame. (Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, Tech Times, University of Copenhagen Newsroom)

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