
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a long-lasting disease that affects the immune system.
It causes the body to mistakenly attack a part of the nervous system called the myelin sheath. This is the protective layer that surrounds nerve fibers and helps them send signals between the brain and the rest of the body.
When myelin is damaged, communication between the brain and body slows down or stops, leading to symptoms like numbness, weakness, vision problems, and sometimes paralysis.
MS affects nearly 3 million people around the world. While current treatments can help reduce inflammation and slow the disease, none of them can actually repair the damage already done to nerves. That may soon change, thanks to a new breakthrough from researchers in the United States.
A team led by Professor Seema Tiwari-Woodruff at the University of California, Riverside, and Professor John Katzenellenbogen at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has found two promising drug compounds that may be able to repair damaged myelin.
Their research, which was published in the journal Scientific Reports, represents more than a decade of work.
The research team discovered two compounds, called K102 and K110, that can help regenerate the myelin sheath. Of the two, K102 showed the most promise. It not only encouraged the regrowth of myelin in nerve cells but also helped regulate the immune system—something that is crucial in MS treatment.
The scientists started by studying a compound called indazole chloride, which had already been shown to help with remyelination in mice.
However, this compound had some problems—it wasn’t suitable for human trials because it didn’t have the right properties for drug development. So the team worked with chemists to make and test more than 60 similar compounds.
That’s how they found K102 and K110. These two showed much better results in lab tests. K102 was especially strong in promoting the repair of damaged nerve fibers in both mice and human cells. This was important because the human cells were made from stem cells, meaning the results might carry over to people with MS.
Normally, the body tries to fix damaged myelin using special cells called oligodendrocytes. These cells come from a type of stem cell in the brain. But in MS patients, this repair process often fails. That’s why K102 is exciting—it helps these cells do their job better, which might reduce nerve damage and disability.
K110 also works well but may be better suited for other conditions, such as spinal cord injuries or brain trauma. Both drugs are now being studied further. A company called Cadenza Bio is preparing K102 for clinical trials in humans.
If the trials go well, this could be the first treatment to not just slow down MS, but actually repair some of the damage. The researchers are hopeful that testing in people can begin soon.
This discovery has been over 12 years in the making. The team believes that the two compounds may eventually help treat other brain-related conditions too, such as stroke and diseases that involve nerve damage.
In summary, this study offers new hope for people with MS. For the first time, there is real progress toward a drug that may help repair damaged nerves, restore function, and improve quality of life.
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The study is published in Scientific Reports.
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