A team of scientists from The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute and Case Western Reserve University has created the largest reported collection of stem cell models from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and used them to identify unique ways in which glia – integral support cells in the brain – contribute to the disease. The study, published today in Cell Stem Cell , is the first to report that glial cells from MS patients have intrinsic hallmarks of disease, independent of immune system influences, which points to the power of stem cells for revealing new disease biology and to the need for new types of MS therapies. The hidden roles of glia in MS MS is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the protective myelin sheaths that surround the nerves in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in significant neurological disability.
"Most research and therapeutic strategies have so far focused on blocking the overactive immune system, but how cells in the brain itself, especially glia, contribute to the initiation and progression of MS remained a mystery," explained Valentina Fossati, PhD, NYSCF Senior Research Investigator who led the study. The team leveraged the power of NYSCF's automation platforms to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from skin biopsies of individuals with MS, resulting in the largest collection of MS patient stem cell lines to date, spanning diverse clinical subtypes. They then conve.