A clever disguise is all it takes to bring a halt to multiple sclerosis in mice.
In MS, immune cells called T-cells treat myelin ? which insulates nerves ? as a foreign invader and destroy it. This disrupts nerve cell communication, causing symptoms such as numbness, paralysis and blindness.
Current therapies suppress the whole immune system. To get round this, Daniel Getts of Northwestern University in Chicago and colleagues attached myelin molecules to biodegradable nanoparticles and injected them into the bloodstream of mice with MS.
The nanoparticles are consumed by another type of immune cell ? macrophages ? that mistake them for harmless dying red blood cells. The team thinks the macrophages then send a message to the rest of the immune system that this particle, along with its myelin accomplice, should be tolerated.
This targeted immune response prevented relapses of MS symptoms for up to 100 days without affecting other immune pathways
Journal reference: Nature Biotechnology, doi.org/jsr
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
Have your say
Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.
Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article
Subscribe now to comment.
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
google play franchise tag lesotho a wrinkle in time benjamin netanyahu storm shelters nick lachey
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন