Biogen discovers molecule capable of nerve repair

The results suggest a role for LINGO-1 in central nervous system (CNS) repair which could lead to potential pathways for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) and other demyelinating diseases.

MS is a chronic disease of the CNS in which the body’s own immune cells break down myelin, a fatty substance that typically surrounds nerve cells like the insulation around a wire. Without myelin, nerves lose the ability to conduct electrical impulses and eventually die. Current MS therapies can slow the progression of the disease, but none are able to repair the damage that the immune system inflicts on myelin.

The new research reported by Biogen scientists indicates that LINGO-1 appears to be a molecular switch that controls the ability of these CNS cells to myelinate. The Biogen team discovered that LINGO-1 normally acts to prevent myelination and that the normal function of LINGO-1 could be blocked in laboratory tissue culture.

Researchers were able to induce CNS cells to generate large quantities of myelin by blocking LINGO-1 and, for the first time ever in a laboratory setting, to wrap it correctly around nerves.

Dr Michael Gilman, Biogen’s executive vice president, said: “Although it is still uncertain whether we can transform these observations into a therapy, our research team has provided the first indications of a new pathway that may enable us to repair the nerve damage found in patients afflicted by MS and other serious demyelinating diseases.”

This new research builds on papers recently published by Biogen Idec scientists on CNS nerve re-growth and regeneration.