Grant: Project Grant - PA: Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease in which the fatty sheaths that are wrapped around neuronal processes and that aid communication between brain cells become damaged. During the initial phase of the disease, the brain is able to repair those damages but this ability is frequently lost as MS progresses. So far the exact cause of this failure has not been pinpointed. Much of the sheath repair is reliant on new sheath-forming cells (called oligodendrocytes) produced by brain cells known as NG2-glia. We propose that the status of these NG2-glia is key to effective repair. Evidence suggest that these cells need to divide to ensure effective remyelination. We aim to determine whether the need of continuous brain repair as in case of progressive MS, eventually wears out the NG2-glia, rendering them successively less effective at restoring brain function after each period of damage. The proposed research may critically contribute to our understanding of the exact causes that lead to the transition to progressive MS disease stages. Based on our findings, future treatment strategies may focus on preventing or slowing down the decline of the repair capacity of NG2-glia thereby helping to prevent or delay disease progression.