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Current Drug Discovery Technologies

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1570-1638
ISSN (Online): 1875-6220

Targeting Apoptosis to Treat Multiple Sclerosis

Author(s): George S. Robertson, Andrea L.O. Hebb, Craig S. Moore and Virender Bhan

Volume 5, Issue 1, 2008

Page: [75 - 77] Pages: 3

DOI: 10.2174/157016308783769432

Price: $65

Abstract

Accumulating evidence implicates a failure of myelin-reactive immune cells to undergo apoptosis in the pathological events contributing to multiple sclerosis (MS). We have recently demonstrated that members of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family of antiapoptotic genes are elevated in peripheral blood immune cells (monocytes, T cells) of patients with aggressive forms of MS (secondary progressive) or those with relapsing-remitting MS suffering a disease replase. These findings suggest that the IAPs may be novel diagnostic markers for distinguishing subtypes of MS. Moreover, antisense-mediated knockdown of the IAP family member known as Xlinked IAP (XIAP) reverses paralysis in an animal model of MS suggesting that treatments targeting XIAP, and perhaps other IAPs, may have utility in the treatment of MS.


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