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New Findings On An Old Viral Protein: Does It Play A Role In MS?
September 29. 2004 A new study shows that a protein produced by a virus that has existed within human genetic material for
many years may be associated with the damage of nerve-insulating myelin that occurs in MS. Drs. Joseph Antony, Christopher
Power (University of Calgary, Alberta) and colleagues report their findings in the October 2004 issue of _Nature Neuroscience_
The investigators examined brain tissue from a small number of people with MS and found that there was significantly more
syncitin (pronounced SIN-se-tin) in MS tissuewhen compared to brain tissue from people with other neurological disease or
no disease. They also found that syncitin showed up in areas where myelin damage was actively occurring. Syncytin was shown
to induce the production of oxidants, molecules that can be toxic to certain cells. The researchers found that adding syncytin
to samples of myelin-making cells resulted in the death of these cells. In a rodent model, injections of a syncytin-producing
virus resulted in myelin damage and impaired motor function. Because of the observed increase in oxidants, the investigators
administered ferulic acid, an anti-oxidant, to syncytin-treated myelin-making cells and rodent models. This treatment markedly
reduced the death of myelin-making cells, and, the motor abnormalities improved in syncytin-treated rodents. In an accompanying
editorial, Drs. Mark Mattson and Dennis Taub (National Institute on Aging, Baltimore) noted that although this study found
an association between syncytin and the inflammatory processes that occur in MS, it did not establish a role for this protein
in the development of this disease. To do so, further studies are necessary, for example, determining whether blocking syncytin
improves rodent models of MS, and whether immune cells from people with MS react to this protein. Nevertheless, if the interesting
findings of this study can be confirmed and expanded upon, it may open new avenues of investigation into the underlying pathology
of MS, and may suggest targets for new treatment approaches.
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