Identifying the missing link between myelin loss and nerve cell death

Progress to Date

Dr Makowiecki and her team have made excellent progress on this project. They have demonstrated that myelin loss affects the communication between nerve cells in the brain of laboratory models of MS. The team’s findings indicate that myelin loss not only slows down the communication between nerve cells but also affects the structure of these cells and their connections, affecting how reliably one nerve cell responds to another.

Their research has also demonstrated that myelin loss disrupts the delicate balance between “excitatory” (go) signals and “inhibitory” (stop) signals in the brain. Specifically, laboratory models of MS had a decreased response to excitatory signals and increased response to inhibitory signals. This was found to occur rapidly after myelin loss and may contribute to some of the symptoms in MS, such as memory and concentration problems, as well as depression and anxiety related symptoms. This is a promising finding that will be investigated further as part of the project.

Interestingly, the team has discovered that myelin repair can reverse the changes to the structure of nerve cells caused by myelin loss. This discovery holds great promise, as it suggests that treatments that target myelin repair are likely to be an appropriate intervention to potentially reverse symptoms of MS.

Moving forward, Dr Makowiecki and her team will continue to investigate how MS, particularly myelin loss, affects nerve cell communication. Understanding this will hopefully pave the way towards identifying and developing treatments that prevent disease progression.

Dr Makowiecki has presented this work at national and international conferences and is preparing several manuscripts for publication in scientific peer-reviewed journals.

Updated: 31 March 2023