Cure research
Research into a cure for MS explores exactly what happens in MS, and how we can stop it occurring.
Current projects
- Profiling of autoantibody responses
- Why does remyelination fail in MS? Investigating the role of FGF-9
- Mechanisms and roles of microglial priming and activation in MS
- A new therapy for new relapses?
- Neuroprotective strategies: Amiloride Clinical Trial in Optic Neuritis (ACTION)
- Investigating new ways to repair myelin
- Investigating the role of the Gas6 molecule in myelination
- Could phenytoin be neuroprotective in MS?
- Understanding remyelination in people with MS
- Do molecules in the blood play a role in nerve fibre damage?
- MS Society Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair
- MS Society Edinburgh Centre for Translational Research
- How do mesenchymal stem cells from people with secondary progressive MS differ?
- Long-term effects of bone marrow stem cell transplantation in people with MS
- Identifying neuroprotective treatments for people with MS
- Can brain cells be used to treat optic neuritis?
- Clinical trial to test the safety and potential of stem cells for the treatment of MS
- WIRMS clinical trial: does hookworm infection prevent relapses in people with relapsing remitting MS
Profiling of autoantibody responses
Professor Chris Linington
University of Glasgow
£188,458
What’s the project about?
The current treatments available to people with MS that reduce inflammation in the brain and spinal cord are limited, as a lot of people do not respond to them.
This is because it is believed that myelin damage is caused by a number of different factors, some of which cannot be prevented using current treatments. This research group from Glasgow University have shown that one of these factors may be a type of protein present in their immune system known as ‘autoantibodies’. These autoantibodies could target and destroy myelin making cells. This project will aim to identify and characterise these autoantibodies and try to develop a test to identify people with MS who have them.
How will it help people with MS?
There are treatments for other conditions that limit the damage caused by autoantibodies which could be effective for people with MS. Understanding the role of these autoantibodies and developing a test to identify people with MS who have them is an essential step towards the possibility of being able to select the most effective treatment for someone’s MS at an individual level.
The difference you can make
We are constantly striving to develop safe and effective treatments for people with MS. By donating to the MS Society you will be supporting innovative projects like this.
Why does remyelination fail in MS? Investigating the role of FGF-9
Professor Chris Linington
University of Glasgow
£102,018
What’s the project about?
There is lots of research being carried out trying to stimulate remyelination in the brain and spinal cord to try to restore function and prevent progression of disability in MS – but we still do not understand why remyelination fails in the first place.
FGF-9 is an important protein that has a key role in the development of the nervous system, but it has also been shown to reduce myelination. This means that FGF-9 is an important new target for treatments designed to promote myelin repair. This project, lead by Chris Linington and his team from the University of Glasgow, aims to identify the way that FGF9 reduces remyelination in the nervous system, which will allow us to work out whether blocking the effects of FGF9 might be beneficial for people with MS.
How will it help people with MS?
Understanding how FGF9 reduces remyelination in MS is an essential first step towards developing potential treatments that might block or reverse this effect, which could help people with MS to spontaneously repair the myelin of damaged nerves in MS.
The difference you can make
There are currently no treatments available to help repair damage caused by MS. This type of project is vital if treatments are to be reality - please support this project today.
Mechanisms and roles of microglial priming and activation in MS
Prof. Bryan Paul Morgan
Cardiff University
£104,350
What’s the project about?
In people with MS, relatively minor health problems such as urine or chest infections can trigger relapses and speed up the progression of the condition.
Scientists think this is caused by a type of brain cell called ‘microglia’ which becomes ‘primed’ in people with MS. Priming makes microglia attack and damage neurones, axons and myelin, causing people’s MS to worsen.
No one knows why microglia become primed in people with MS. This project will look at the effects of priming and experiment with ways to reverse priming and the effect this has on MS.
How will it help people with MS?
The researchers predict that these studies will set the scene for the development of new therapies that target triggers of microglia priming reducing the number of relapses and slowing the progression of MS.
The difference you can make
Our aim is to beat MS.
You can help us achieve that aim by supporting research like this – research that might, one day, lead to more effective treatments for people with MS.
A new therapy for new relapses?
Prof. Kenneth Smith
University College London
£113,203
What’s the project about?
It is thought that some of the symptoms of MS may be due to a shortage of energy in the nerve cells in the brain and that this is caused by a lack of oxygen.
This research group have found that providing oxygen-enriched air to laboratory models of MS can reverse symptoms. The purpose of this project is to gain more information about the best timing of when to give the oxygen, the best concentration of oxygen to use, and, importantly, whether oxygen therapy is safe.
How will it help people with MS?
If this project is successful, the researchers plan for the findings to form the basis for a clinical trial of oxygen therapy for people with MS. It could indicate a new, safe treatment that would be easy for people to administer at home.
The difference you can make
We are constantly striving to develop safe and effective treatments for people with MS. By donating to the MS Society you will be supporting innovative projects like this.
Neuroprotective strategies: Amiloride Clinical Trial in Optic Neuritis (ACTION)
Dr Matthew Craner
University of Oxford
£377,283
What’s the project about?
The aim of this project is to investigate the effect of amiloride as a new therapy for protecting nerves from damage following inflammation. Amiloride is a drug already used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure, so we know it's safe. The study will use imaging techniques to look at the effect of amiloride on nerve fibre loss in the retina of people following optic neuritis.
How will it help people with MS?
Effective therapies for protecting nerve fibres from damage in MS are urgently needed. It is also important to find ways of quickly assessing these therapies. This project could develop amiloride as a neuroprotective therapy for MS.
The findings of this project will also pave the way for more clinical trials in the future.
The difference you can make
Projects like this are vital if we are to achieve our goal of developing and testing neuroprotective therapies that prevent and slow disability progression.
Please help us reach that goal by donating today.
Investigating new ways to repair myelin
Prof. Charles ffrench-Constant
University of Edinburgh
£100,706
What’s the project about?
The aim of this project is to identify new drug targets for progressive MS. We know that progressive MS is caused when the body fails to repair myelin after damage caused by the immune system. These researchers have found a group of molecules, called endothelins, that play a role in myelin repair and will study these in detail to see if they can be targeted as a treatment to stimulate remyelination.
How will it help people with MS?
At the moment, we have increasingly effective drugs that reduce the activity of the immune system, but none that will repair the damage it leaves behind. As a result we cannot effectively treat people with progressive MS.
The results produced by this project will provide the essential next step in the development of drug therapies for progressive MS.
The difference you can make
This project is based at the MS Society Edinburgh Centre for Translational Research. The Centre has made great strides in understanding how myelin repair works.
One of our research priorities is finding treatments for people with progressive forms of MS. Projects like this are vital if we are to achieve our goal of developing and testing neuroprotective therapies that prevent and slow disability progression.
Please help us reach that goal by donating today.
Investigating the role of the Gas6 molecule in myelination
Prof. Arthur Butt
University of Portsmouth
£101,352
What’s the project about?
Myelin damage occurs in MS, but in addition scientists believe that oligodendrocytes – specialised cells in the brain and spinal cord that make myelin – are also damaged in the process.
The brain and spinal cord contain a large number of stem cells that have the potential to make more oligodendrocytes and to therefore repair damage in MS. So it is essential to understand the processes involved in making new oligodendrocytes and how this can go wrong in MS.
Researchers have found that a molecule, called Gas6, improves oligodendrocyte survival and regeneration. This research group aims to understand the ways in which Gas6 does this.
How will it help people with MS?
We hope that by having a better understanding of the way in which Gas6 works the researchers will find new therapies to promote myelin repair in MS.
The difference you can make
Our aim is to beat MS.
You can help us achieve that aim by supporting research like this – research that might, one day, lead to more effective treatments for people with MS.
Could phenytoin be neuroprotective in MS?
Dr Raju Kapoor
Institute of Neurology, UCL
£253,327
What’s the project about?
Phenytoin has been used to treat epilepsy for over 60 years. The aim of this three year project is to test whether phenytoin could be used in people MS to protect nerve cells from the damage cause by inflammation.
This phase II clinical trial will use various imaging techniques to look at nerve fibres in the retina following optic neuritis. The thickness of these nerves is a direct measure of whether phenytoin had protected them from further damage.
How will it help people with MS?
We don’t have any effective therapies for protecting nerve fibres from damage in MS. This is urgently needed. It is also important to develop ways of quickly assessing neuroprotective therapies.
This project could develop phenytoin as a neuroprotective therapy for MS. The findings of this project could then lead to larger phase III clinical trials in the future.
The difference you can make
Our aim is to beat MS.
You can help us achieve that aim by supporting research like this – research that might, one day, lead to more effective treatments for people with MS.
This project is jointly funded by the National MS Society.
Understanding remyelination in people with MS
Professor Robin Franklin
University of Cambridge
£200,877
What’s the project about?
In MS, the immune system attacks myelin, a protective layer surrounding nerve fibres of the brain and spinal cord.
Early research suggests that debris left behind following an attack on the myelin layer prevents myelin repair from happening.
Researchers think that the debris prevents the body’s own nearby stem cells from turning into cells that are capable of replacing the damaged myelin.
In this three year project Professor Franklin and his team will use laboratory models of MS to confirm early research and improve our understanding of how myelin repair can fail in people with MS.
How will it help people with MS?
In MS the myelin repair process is often very inefficient and in some cases fails to happen at all. There are currently no treatments available that can repair damaged myelin.
Knowledge gained in this project might help researchers find a way to promote myelin repair which could potentially benefit people with all types of MS.
The difference you can make
This project is based at the MS Society Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair. The Centre has made great strides in understanding how myelin repair works.
We need your support to continue this valuable work: to advance our understanding of myelin repair to develop treatments to promote myelin repair in people with MS.
Do molecules in the blood play a role in nerve fibre damage?
Professor Hugh Perry
University of Southampton
£172,122
What’s the project about?
Research into treatments that protect nerve fibres from damage in people with MS is one of our priorities.
Scientists have found that, at sites of inflammation, damage can occur not only to myelin, but also the nerve fibres of people with MS.
In laboratory models of MS, researchers have found that specific components of the blood can cause this damage.
Professor Perry and his team will test to see if specific components in the blood can pass through the blood brain barrier and damage nerve fibres in laboratory models of MS which molecules in the blood are responsible for this damage to nerve fibres
How will it help people with MS?
Researchers are hoping that the knowledge gained from this project will improve our understanding of what causes nerve fibre damage in MS. This improved understanding will help us work towards new therapies for people with progressive forms of MS.
The difference you can make
There are currently no disease modifying therapies available for people with progressive forms of MS.
We hope that our research will change that.
Support our groundbreaking research so that, together, we can beat MS.
MS Society Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair
Professor Robin Franklin
University of Cambridge
£2,127,022
What’s the project about?
The MS Society Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair was set up in 2005 with a £1.6 million grant from the MS Society. Its aim was to develop therapies that promote myelin repair in people with MS.
Based on the success of the first stage of the Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair, the MS Society committed a further £2.1 million to the Centre in 2011 for an additional five years. Professor Robin Franklin and his team at the Centre will work collaboratively with world leading experts in MS to continue this groundbreaking research.The next stage of this work will:
- build on recent advances in myelin repair research, so it’s possible to identify more potential MS treatments in the future
- do pre-clinical research to translate their laboratory findings into a clinical trial for people with MS
- eventually run a small-scale clinical trial to test the safety of this treatment in a small number of people with MS.
This next stage of this research started in April 2011 and will finish in 2016, with a trial potentially starting three years into the project.
If the work proves successful, clinical trials in larger numbers of people will take place to find out whether the potential treatments for myelin repair are safe and effective for people to use.
Researchers believe that we’re still around 15 years away from a potential treatment coming through, but these are positive steps.
How will it help people with MS?
Therapies that promote myelin repair have the potential to benefit people with all types of MS.
This research has been set up with the aim of developing and testing treatments that have the potential to repair myelin damage in people with MS – something that has never been done before.
The difference you can make
Researchers at the Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair, together with the MS Society Edinburgh Centre for Translational Research, are leading the way in developing treatments that promote myelin repair for people with MS.
We are grateful to our supporters who have made this work possible.
Please help us continue this vital work by donating today.
MS Society Edinburgh Centre for Translational Research
Professor Charles ffrench-Constant
University of Edinburgh
£2,033,162
What’s the project about?
Discovering treatments for people with MS could be made quicker and easier if researchers from different disciplines worked together.
In 2007 the MS Society set up The Edinburgh Centre for Translational Research, with generous support from the Volant Trust, to try and achieve this. Researchers at the Edinburgh Centre for Translational Research will:
- build on early laboratory discoveries to understand how myelin repair fails in people with MS
- work closely with the MS Society Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair towards clinical trials for myelin repair therapies for people with MS
- continue early stage research to develop potential therapies for people with progressive forms of MS
How will it help people with MS?
Disease modifying therapies for people with progressive forms of MS are urgently needed.
Researchers at the Edinburgh Centre for Translational Research believe that promoting collaboration between scientists and clinicians from many disciplines of MS research could speed the process of drug discovery and delivery of potential therapies into clinical trials.
We hope that two of the MS Society’s major investment centres, the Edinburgh Centre for Translational Research and the Cambridge Centre for Myelin repair will lead the way in drug discoveries and clinical trials relating to myelin repair.
The difference you can make
Finding treatments for people with progressive forms of MS is one of our priorities.
Please support MS research so we can achieve our ultimate aim of beating MS.
How do mesenchymal stem cells from people with secondary progressive MS differ?
Professor Cris Constantinescu
University of Nottingham
£61,000
What’s the project about?
The aim of this 3 year project is to increase our knowledge about a type of stem cell called mesenchymal stem cells.
These cells are thought to have the ability to repair and limit damage to nerve fibres of the brain and spinal cord in people with MS.
To do this mesenchymal stem cells from people with secondary progressive MS will be compared with cells from people without MS.
How will it help people with MS?
Experts believe that transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells could be a good potential therapy for the treatment of secondary progressive MS and that their effectiveness should be tested in a clinical trial.
A greater understanding of mesenchymal stem cells will be valuable for the design of clinical trials to test these stem cells as a potential therapy for secondary progressive MS.
The difference you can make
There are currently no treatments available to help repair damage caused by MS. This type of project is vital if treatments are to be reality.
This project is jointly funded by the UK Stem Cell Foundation.
Long-term effects of bone marrow stem cell transplantation in people with MS
Dr Paolo Muraro
Imperial College London
£235,464
What’s the project about?
Bone-marrow transplantation is an experimental treatment for people with severe forms of MS, but we don’t fully understand how it changes people’s immune system, and how that affects MS in the long term.
This three year research project will look at the balance of immune cells before and after bone marrow transplantation in samples taken from around 90 participants in several different clinical trials from around the world.
Dr Muraro and his team will analyse how the immune systems of participants have changed as a result of bone-marrow transplantation.
How will it help people with MS?
Stem cells are considered a promising potential therapy for some people with MS but there are still so many unanswered questions we have. This research will help us answer some of the very important questions that researchers have about how bone marrow transplantation impacts on people with MS in the long term.
The difference you can make
If you would like to see stem cell research progress, please donate today. Together we can beat MS.
Identifying neuroprotective treatments for people with MS
Dr Alastair Wilkins
University of Bristol
£385,087
What’s the project about?
Early research suggests that drugs that change the behaviour of peroxisomes, a component of nerve cells, may directly protect nerve cells from irreversible damage in people with MS.
Researchers in this four year project will study human brain tissue obtained from the MS Society Tissue Bank and laboratory models of MS with the aim to confirm this early research.
How will it help people with MS?
There is a clear relationship between nerve cell damage and disability progression in MS.
We hope that the results from this study will be used to develop neuroprotective therapies that can protect nerve cells from damage in people with progressive forms of MS and, in turn, slow disability progression.
The difference you can make
One of our research priorities is finding treatments for people with progressive forms of MS. Projects like this are vital if we are to achieve our goal of developing and testing neuroprotective therapies that prevent and slow disability progression.
Please help us reach that goal by donating today.
Can brain cells be used to treat optic neuritis?
Professor David Baker
Queen Mary, University of London
£ 288,851
What’s the project about?
Optic neuritis, or inflammation of the optic nerve in the eye, can lead to problems with vision.
Using a laboratory model of optic neuritis this 3 year project will test whether neural stem cells can both promote repair and limit damage to the optic nerve caused during optic neuritis.
How will it help people with MS?
If successful results could be used to develop potential stem cell therapies to promote repair and protection of all nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord, not just the optic nerve.
The difference you can make
Optic neuritis is the most common first effect of MS in people. If recovery from optic neuritis is not good, at present there is no treatment that can reverse this.
Poor vision caused by optic neuritis cannot be helped with glasses or eye exercises.
By supporting MS research you could help find the first treatment that can help repair damage caused during optic neuritis.
Clinical trial to test the safety and potential of stem cells for the treatment of MS
Dr Paolo Muraro
Imperial College
£ 527,978
What’s the project about?
A type of stem cell called mesenchymal stem cells are thought to have the ability to repair and limit damage to nerve fibres of the brain and spinal cord in people with MS.
As part of a three year project, researchers plan to conduct a small trial involving 13 participants to test whether this is true.
Imperial College will be one of 15-20 worldwide trial centres expected to participate in the international trial, involving up to 150 people with MS.
How will it help people with MS?
The primary aim of this international trial is to establish whether the use of mesenchymal stem cells is considered safe. This trial will also go some way to test the therapeutic potential of these cells as a treatment for MS and establish whether it warrants further investigation.
The difference you can make
Scientists believe that there is now enough evidence to suggest that stem cells hold real potential for the treatment of MS.
By donating to MS research you will be part of an international concerted effort in stem cell research.
WIRMS clinical trial: does hookworm infection prevent relapses in people with relapsing remitting MS?
Professor Cris Constantinescu
University of Nottingham
£396,392
What’s the project about?
Early work has shown that people with gut parasite infections, such as hookworm, are less likely to have MS. Small studies have also shown that hookworm infection in people with MS could be linked to a reduction in the severity of symptoms.
Professor Constantinescu and his team are going to be testing this potential treatment in around 70 people with relapsing remitting MS.
- half the participants will receive a placebo and the other half will receive hookworm treatment
- researchers will measure the number of relapses people experience, and the number of new lesions that people develop over the course of nine months
- a detailed analysis of how the hookworms are affecting the immune system will be conducted
- when the study finishes, participants will be given a drug which gets rid of the hookworms
How will it help people with MS?
This research will test the effectiveness of hookworms as a potential treatment for MS. If successful, they have the potential to provide a simple, inexpensive, natural and controllable treatment for people with relapsing remitting MS.
The difference you can make
We are constantly striving to develop safe and effective treatments for people with MS. By donating to the MS Society you will be supporting innovative projects like this.
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