Grant: Project Grant

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that causes life-long disabilities. Canada is home to the world's highest prevalence of multiple sclerosis, with around 300 cases per 100,000 people. Multiple sclerosis happens when the body's immune system attacks and damages myelin, a protective layer around nerve fibers, in the brain and spinal cord. Myelin enables rapid transmission of information within the nervous system and its damage results in impairment of mobility, sensation, cognition, vision, muscle control, and other basic body functions. In multiple sclerosis, initially remissions happen when the body restores damaged myelin. However, over 70% of people with multiple sclerosis develop a progressive form during disease course, in which myelin repair declines significantly causing permanent nerve damage and disability accumulation. Current medications for multiple sclerosis are minimally effective for progressive phase and there is an unmet need to develop targeted therapies for this debilitating form of the disease. We have recently identified a potential treatment called Neuregulin-1 that holds promise to promote myelin repair within chronic multiple sclerosis lesions of animals. Neuregulin-1 is an important protein for proper function of cells in the brain and spinal cord. We discovered that Neuregulin-1 is depleted in brain lesions and even in the blood and brain of individuals with multiple sclerosis. Our research suggests that long-lasting decline in Neuregulin-1 levels may underlie failure of myelin repair and accumulation of disabilities in progressive multiple sclerosis. Our preliminary research indicates that Neuregulin-1 promotes formation of new nerve cells and myelin from neural stem cells in chronic lesions of experimental models of multiple sclerosis. In this project, we will evaluate the potential of Neuregulin-1 as a future treatment to prevent disease progression and support tissue repair in progressive multiple sclerosis.