New Mouse Model for Studying Multiple Sclerosis

The severity of multiple sclerosis (MS) has prompted scientists to look for a cure since the disease was first identified. Thus far, they've had little success, and chances are that the next few years won't bring about significant breakthrough in this area. In the hopes of preventing this from happening, Canadian researchers created a new mouse model, so as to study the way demyelination occurs inside the brain.

 

The new mouse, created by scientists from the University of Guelph and the Hospital for Sick Children in Ontario, led by Abdiwahab A. Musse, was designed to provide a better understanding of how demyelination works. The animal was induced with high levels of an enzyme called peptidylarginine deiminase 2 (PAD2), which was observed as being excessively produced in human MS patients.

 

By studying these mice, the research team noticed that they exhibited abnormal movement, as well as signs of balance and coordination loss, due to the poor myelin insulation their brain cells had. In addition, the survey showed that PAD2 is a viable therapeutic target for further studies and medical therapies.

 

MS is a "subversive" disease, in that it does not attack the heart, lungs, bowels or liver directly. Instead, it cripples the ability of the neurons to communicate with each other, by destroying the myelin layer that covers them. Myelin is essential to human brain functioning, because it provides insulation for electrical impulses to pass from brain cell to brain cell fast and accurately. Damages done to this layer mean that signals can no longer be transmitted, the lack of which triggers the symptoms of MS.

 

Symptoms include paranoid delusions, changes in sensation, abnormal muscle spasms, fatigue and acute or chronic pain syndromes. Depression also occurs in MS patients, as their brains are no longer able to interpret outside stimuli correctly, and so sufferers cannot elaborate a response to what is being asked of them.