Investigators from the Jewish General Hospital Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, and the McGill University, in Montreal, Canada, may be on the verge of one of the greatest discoveries of the decade – a cure for the devastating disease multiple sclerosis (MS). The team managed to devise a method of ensuring that the autoimmune condition is utterly suppressed in lab mice, whose physiology is remarkably similar to ours. The research brings hope that the treatment could soon be applied to humans as well.

Details of the recent study are published in the August 9th issue of the prestigious journal Nature Medicine. Multiple sclerosis is a very dangerous disease, doctors warn. A patient's immune system begins to attack the central nervous system, almost as if it became allergic to it. The battle between the two bodily systems results in widespread and incurable physical and cognitive degeneration. As such, the experts thought it best to focus their efforts on immunosuppressive drugs, as the best possible way of preventing the immune system from reacting uncontrollably.

Experts at the two research facilities believe that the new course of treatment, called GIFT15, could also be used in the future to treat conditions such as Crohn's disease, lupus and arthritis, which are also autoimmune conditions. In addition, it doesn't resemble other methods of suppressing the body's response to diseases. Rather than making use of antibiotics, it relies on a personalized form of cellular therapy, which is able to provide a more focused effect in the body, and reduces the risk of secondary infections.

In charge of the new study was expert Dr. Jacques Galipeau, who holds a joint appointment in the JGH Lady Davis Institute, and the McGill's Faculty of Medicine. He explains that GIFT15 is composed of two proteins, known as GSM-CSF and interleukin-15. In their natural forms, the two act to bolster the immune system, and incite a strong reaction to pathogens. However, once they are fused together in a lab test tube, they have the exact opposite effect on the body's defenses. Mice with MS that were injected with the recombined proteins experienced a complete remission of the disease, and were cured.

“You know those mythical animals that have the head of an eagle and the body of a lion? They're called chimeras. In a lyrical sense, that's what we've created. GIFT15 is a new protein hormone composed of two distinct proteins, and when they're stuck together they lead to a completely unexpected biological effect,” says Galipeau, who is a world-renowned expert in cell regeneration, also employed at the McGill's Center for Translational Research.

He adds that immune system B-cells are the new focus in MS therapy today. Speaking of the actual treatment, the expert sates that “It's just like donating blood. We purify [B-cells] in the lab, treat them with GIFT15 in a petri dish, and give them back to the patient. That's what we did in mice, and that's what we believe we could do in people. It would be very easy to take the next step, it's just a question of finding the financial resources and partnerships to make this a reality.”