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Skin Cells Reprogrammed into Brain Cells Repair MS-like Damage in Mice

February 26, 2018

Researchers at the University of Cambridge and collaborators report that transplanting adult skin cells reprogrammed to become neural stem cells (specialized brain stem cells) reduced inflammation and damage to the nervous system in mice with MS-like disease. This type of success has been reported before, but this study identified the mechanism behind the benefits of transplanting the cells: the cells reduced the amount of “succinate,” a small molecule that sends inflammatory signals to immune cells.

This research was funded by the Wellcome Trust, European Research Council, Medical Research Council, Italian Multiple Sclerosis Association, Congressionally-Directed Medical Research Programs, the Evelyn Trust and the Bascule Charitable Trust.

Learn more about this research, from the University website

Read the paper online in Cell Stem Cell

Explore the potential of stem cells in MS

About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis, and there is currently no cure for MS. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are leading to better understanding and moving us closer to a world free of MS. An estimated 1 million people live with MS in the United States. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, and it affects women three times more than men.

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