Multiple Sclerosis (MS) remains incurable today, but researchers at Radboudumc have made a significant stride toward developing a potential cure.
MS damages the protective myelin sheath around nerves in the brain and spinal cord, impairing communication between nerve cells. This leads to progressive difficulties with walking, vision, and sensation for patients. In the Netherlands alone, 17,000 people live with MS, and the disease affects women three times more often than men.
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Our team focused on families where MS clusters occur, comparing DNA from affected relatives to that of healthy ones. A key finding emerged: a mutation in the MBP gene, which codes for a protein essential to the myelin sheath.
Researcher Geert Poelmans suggests this MBP gene defect could be central to MS development. Additional genes producing related proteins were also found to harbor mutations.
This discovery enables a more precise hunt for therapies to halt myelin breakdown and potentially reverse MS progression.
Source: RTLnieuws.nl
