Antibodies Help Repair Myelin Sheaths

A U.S. study has found a human antibody administered in a single low dose in laboratory mouse models can repair myelin sheaths.

Myelin is the insulating covering of nerves that, when damaged, can lead to multiple sclerosis and other central nervous system disorders.

The repair of chronic spinal cord injury is seldom modeled in laboratory studies but it is an important reality for the treatment of humans, said Dr. Moses Rodriguez of the Mayo Clinic, the study’s corresponding author. The concept of using natural human antibodies to treat disease of this kind has not yet been tested in humans but these research findings are very promising,

Arthur Warrington, a Mayo Clinic researcher and study author, said the findings might eventually lead to new treatments that could limit permanent disability.

The researchers said antibody, which was genetically engineered from a single cell, binds to myelin and the surface of cells in the brain and spinal cord and then triggers the cells to begin the repair process called remyelination.

That antibody, they said, is the first known reagent designed to induce repair by acting within the central nervous system at the damage sites on cells responsible for myelin synthesis.