New control system of the body discovered

The molecular analysis of damaged tissue from patients with MS led the researchers to the B1-receptor. The data they evaluated showed that two different pathways known to play a crucial role in the cardiovascular area also seem to play an important role in the CNS: namely, the renin-angiotensin-system, and the kallikrein-kinin-system, the latter of which the researchers in Berlin put their focus on.

The B1-receptor is part of the kallikrein-kinin-system. Together with Professor Alexandre Prat from the Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada, and Professor Lawrence Steinman from Stanford University in Stanford, California, USA, the researchers in Berlin detected the B1-receptor on T cells of MS patients as well as on T cells of mice with encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain.

The disease got worse in those mice that lacked B1 on their T cells. Therefore, using a certain substance (Sar-[D-Phe]desArg9-bradykinin), they activated the receptor in mice which had B1 on their T cells. As a result, the entry of T cells into the CNS slowed down and the clinical symptoms of the inflammation markedly decreased.

"We have discovered a control mechanism, which reduces inflammation caused by the immune system" neurologist and MDC research group leader Professor Zipp explains. "It remains to be seen if we succeed in developing a new therapy for chronic inflammation in the CNS, such as MS, in the future."

Source: Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (news : web)