PURPOSE OF REVIEW Following the establishment of a number of successful immunomodulatory treatments for multiple sclerosis, current research focuses on the repair of existing damage. RECENT FINDINGS Promotion of regeneration is particularly important for demyelinated areas with degenerated or functionally impaired axons of the central nervous system's white and gray matter. As the protection ...

BACKGROUND Residual CXCR2 expression on CNS cells in Cxcr2 (+/-) →Cxcr2 (-/-) chimeric animals slowed remyelination after both experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and cuprizone-induced demyelination. METHODS We generated Cxcr2 (fl/-) :PLPCre-ER(T) mice enabling an inducible, conditional deletion of Cxcr2 on oligodendrocyte lineage cells of the CNS. Cxcr2 (fl/-) :PLPCre-ER(T) mice were e...

The cellular prion protein (PrP) is essential to the long-term maintenance of myelin sheaths in peripheral nerves. PrP activates adhesion G-protein coupled receptor Adgrg6 on Schwann cells and initiates a pro-myelination cascade molecular signals. Because crucial for development regeneration after nerve injury, we investigated role repair. We performed experimental sciatic crush injuries co-iso...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Many nerve axons are insulated by a myelin sheath and their demyelination not only prevents saltatory electrical signal conduction along the axons but also removes their metabolic support leading to irreversible neurodegeneration, which currently is untreatable. There is much interest in potentia...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease characterized by the destruction of central nervous system (CNS) myelin. At present, there is no cure for MS due to the inability to repair damaged myelin. Although the neurotrophin brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has a beneficial role in myelin repair, these effects may be hampered by the over-expression of a transcriptional re...

Galectin-1 (Gal-1) is a member of a highly conserved family of animal lectins which binds to the common disaccharide [Galβ(1-4)-GlcNAc] on both Nand O-glycans decorating cell surface glycoconjugates. Current evidence supports a role for Gal-1 in the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS), one of the most prevalent chronic inflammatory diseases, as approximately one third of MS patients gene...

Progesterone is well known as a female reproductive hormone and in particular for its role in uterine receptivity, implantation, and the maintenance of pregnancy. However, neuroendocrine research over the past decades has established that progesterone has multiple functions beyond reproduction. Within the nervous system, its neuromodulatory and neuroprotective effects are much studied. Although...