Biogen Idec scientists have identified a molecule in the central nervous system ( CNS ) that may play a pivotal role in CNS repair and regeneration.
The research is the first to suggest a role for LINGO-1 in nerve repair and could lead to potential pathways for treating multiple sclerosis ( MS ) and other demyelinating diseases.

LINGO-1 appears to be a molecular switch that controls the ability of these CNS cells to myelinate.

In experiments, researchers were able to induce CNS cells to generate large quantities of myelin by blocking LINGO-1 and, for the first time ever in a laboratory setting, to wrap it correctly around nerves.

" This work is of great interest to the field of myelin repair. It shows that there are, in the normal brain, certain factors that serve to exert a regulatory influence - and in the case of LINGO-1, a 'restraining' influence - on the myelination program. The authors provide strong evidence that by inhibiting LINGO-1, myelination becomes much more robust, " said David R. Colman, a principal investigator of the Myelin Repair Foundation and Wilder Penfield Professor and Director of the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University.

This new research builds on findings by Biogen Idec scientists on CNS nerve re-growth and regeneration.
Earlier in 2005, Biogen Idec researchers published that a protein alternatively referred to as TAJ or TROY acts as an important part of the receptor on CNS neurons that responds to growth-inhibitory molecules in myelin. Specifically, these molecules prevent the re-growth of neurons following injury.
Research on LINGO-1 and TAJ may also provide insight into how to potentially repair damage to the spinal cord.

Source: Nature Neuroscience, 2005


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