Nov
17
PARIS (AFP) — A newly-discovered genetic flaw may lay the nervous system open to assault from the body’s own immune system, leading to multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study published Sunday.
In MS, the immune system attacks myelin, the fatty sheath that protects the cells of the central nervous system.
As a result, nerve signals get slowed or blocked, causing difficulties in movement and coordination, muscle weakness, cognitive impairment, slurred speech and vision problems. There is no known cure.
Scientists have known for three decades that the disease has a genetic cause, but the mechanism has remained obscure.
The new find — the product of eight years’ work — is a variant of a gene known as KIF1B.
Trolling through municipal and church records, a team led by Rogier Hintzen of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam found 26 MS patients in southern Holland who — unbeknownst to them — all had a common ancestor dating back to the early 18th century.
The researchers then scanned each individual’s genomes to see if they shared any genetic anomalies.
“We found a peak in the KIF1B gene, which was very exciting because its function is well known and fits so well,” said Hintzen.
The handful of genes previously known to be implicated in the debilitating disease all help shape the defence mechanism our bodies use to ward off infection.
But KIF1B plays a critical role in the transport of signals along metre-long (yard-long) neurons between the brain and the spinal cord, said Hintzen.
read the rest: AFP: Neuron gene linked to multiple sclerosis: study
Comments
Leave a Reply