Mom's Story, A Child Learns About MS

Mom's Story, A Child Learns About MS
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Friday, July 28, 2017

Researchers Recruiting People with Primary Progressive MS for Genetics Studies – Key to finding treatment options



Primary progressive MS is characterized by steadily worsening neurologic function from the onset of the disease. There are still many gaps in the knowledge we have about what differentiates relapsing-remitting from primary progressive MS, and the underlying mechanisms of primary progressive MS. The MS Genetics Group at the University of California San Francisco is recruiting people with primary progressive MS for a research study involving a one-time blood sample donation with the goal of identifying genetic factors driving the course of the disease. The team also is looking for people without MS who are not related to serve as controls. The team hopes to identify the major genetic factors that play a role in disease presentation and progression. Please note: you do not have to be located in or travel to California to participate. Everything for the study can be done remotely and is free of charge to participants.

Rationale: Specific subtle variations in the human genome are known to play a role in determining who is susceptible to developing multiple sclerosis, and may also influence the course of the disease. People living with MS can make a difference in studies searching for these genes by donating their DNA with a blood sample. Identifying the exact location and role of MS genes could help determine who is at risk for developing the disease and can provide clues to its cause, prevention, and lead to better treatments.

Details: Once an individual has completed the initial online intake form, they will receive a call from the study coordinator to discuss details and answer any questions. The consent form and health information privacy form can be signed electronically. Participants will then be emailed a link to two additional short online surveys and sent a blood-collection kit. The kit includes everything necessary for the blood draw, which can be taken to your local Quest Diagnostics Lab and returned in a prepaid envelope to the lab at UCSF. There is no cost to participants.

Contact: To participate or request additional information, please complete a brief intake survey.
OR you may contact UCSF directly:
Clinical Research Coordinator
UCSF Multiple Sclerosis Genetic Susceptibility Project
675 Nelson Rising Lane, Suite 235A, Box 3206
San Francisco, CA 94158
Email: msdb@ucsf.edu
Toll Free Phone: 1-866-MS-Genes (1-866-674-3637) or Office Phone: (415) 502-7202

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Researchers Find That Immune B Cells from People with MS May Harm Nerve Cells


SUMMARY:
  • Researchers co-funded by the National MS Society have found that immune B cells obtained from the blood of people with relapsing-remitting MS secrete products that can be toxic to nerve cells grown in lab dishes.
  • This study offers new insight into how B cells may contribute to nervous system damage in MS.
  • The team is now conducting further studies to identify the toxic factor or factors secreted by the B cells, and when and how they may act in people with MS, and to answer questions such as whether they are unique to MS, whether they are also evident in people with progressive MS.
  • Drs Robert P Lisak, Joyce Benjamins (Wayne State University), Amit Bar-Or (McGill University and currently at University of Pennsylvania) and colleagues published their findings in the Journal of Neuroimmunology (2017 Aug 15;309:88-99, published online May 17) 
DETAILS
Background: While scientists still don’t know what causes multiple sclerosis, they do know that immune-system attacks are involved, resulting in damage to the myelin that insulates nerve fibers and to nerve cells and fibers themselves. Immune T cells have typically been named as culprits, but it has become clear that immune B cells, another type of white blood cell, are also involved in MS. Research and studies on B cells, including early studies supported by the National MS Society, eventually led to successful clinical trials and approval of Ocrevus™ (ocrelizumab - Genentech, a member of the Roche Group) to treat people with primary progressive and relapsing-remitting MS. Ocrevus depletes certain B cells.

The Study: The current study builds on the researchers’ earlier findings that B cells from the blood of people with relapsing-remitting MS – but not blood from healthy individuals – are toxic to certain cells that build myelin. In this study, the team isolated B cells in the laboratory from the blood of 13 women and men with relapsing-remitting MS who were not receiving disease-modifying treatment or recent steroids, and 13 controls without MS.

The researchers found that products released by B cells from the people with MS were toxic to both rat and human nerve cells grown in lab dishes, while cells from the controls did not incur the same damage. The nerve cells died from apoptosis – a type of self-destruct program – and not, as might be expected, from cell disintegration, or from immunoglobulins (antibodies) that have been identified as culprits in the MS attack.

Drs Robert P Lisak, Joyce Benjamins (Wayne State University), Amit Bar-Or (McGill University and currently at University of Pennsylvania) and colleagues published their findings in the Journal of Neuroimmunology (2017 Aug 15;309:88-99, published online May 17). This study was supported by the National MS Society (USA), the Research Foundation of the MS Society of Canada, and others.

Next Steps: This study offers new insight into how B cells may contribute to nervous system damage in MS. The team is now conducting further studies to identify the toxic factor or factors secreted by the B cells, and when and how they may act in people with MS. They are using “proteomics” for this work, advanced technologies the can identify and quantify numerous molecules simultaneously, along with other approaches. They also plan to answer questions such as whether the toxic B cells are unique to MS or are found in other immune mediated disease, which subsets of B cells produce the toxic effects and whether they are also evident in people with progressive MS.

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Learn more about research on the immune system in MS