Small Molecule Shows Early-Stage Promise for Repairing Myelin Sheath Damage
CINCINNATI, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- When treated with a novel protein function inhibitor called ESI1, mice that mimic the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and lab-prepared human brain cells both demonstrated the ability to regenerate vital myelin coatings that protect healthy axon function.
- When the protective myelin gets damaged, be it by disease or the wear and tear of age, nerve signaling gets disrupted.
- Pinning down the genetic changes and signals involved in the repair silencing process and finding a small molecule compound that can reverse the silencing was a complex undertaking.
- In both aging mice and mice mimicking MS, the ESI1 treatment prompted myelin sheath production and improved lost neurological function.
- When the organoids were exposed to ESI1, the treatment extended the myelin sheath of myelinating cells, the study reports.