Around 2.8 million people around the world are affected by MS (Multiple sclerosis). This is a disease where the immune system of your body starts attacking your CNS( central nervous system) also called the spinal cord. This is caused when the immune system attacks myelin, a protective sheath that covers the nerve fibers that causes poor communication between your brain and the rest of the body.
T Cell Treatments For Multiple Sclerosis
People with MS may go through a variety of symptoms. Some may even lose the ability to walk if the condition gets out of hand. The most commonly seen symptoms of multiple sclerosis are difficulty in walking, fatigue, muscle spasms, problems with vision, tremors, electric-shock sensations from the neck, slurred speech, etc.
Treg cells and piezo 1 part in MS
T cells also called white blood cells to play an important role in MS. white blood cells are a part of the body’s immune response. These white blood cells release different compounds that enter the CNS which causes inflammation and causes damage to cells. Among the different types of t-cells, a certain type called regulatory t-cells or Treg cells is focused on for the MS. These cells regulate and maintain immune homeostasis. Autoimmune diseases can be prevented if the regulatory t cells perform well. And one of the reasons for MS is that these cells do not function well. And this can lead to inflammation and attacks on the central nervous system.
Piezo 1 which is the main requirement for bone formation has been now found to affect t-cells. Piezo 1 is a specialized protein also called an ion channel that helps with wound healing, bacterial infection and is also seen to be effective in the treatment of cancer. Controlling these piezo 1 ion channels can open new doors in treating MS using Treg cells says, researchers.
Researchers have found that inhibiting piezo 1 can be effective in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. To test this out, an experiment was conducted with mice. Researchers tested this out on mice with an animal equivalent of ms and they were able to delete piezo 1 genetically. They compared this batch with ones that had piezo 1. They used immune cell imagine and other methods to study them. And they found out that the deletion of piezo 1 has no impact on other cells except on the regulatory t-cells.
They also found that the mice who did not have piezo 1 should have greater levels of regulatory cells. The study concludes that “ The results indicate that piezo 1 selectively restrains Treg cells, without influencing activation events or effector t cell function”.
They found that the disease was less intense in the deleted piezo 1 mice. Dr.othy said that they think inhibiting piezo 1 might be the new way to treat multiple sclerosis. It also said that intensive research is necessary before they reach any conclusion. This gives new hope to millions of people waiting for a treatment that can fully cure the disease. Finding how to inhibit piezo 1 in the human body will be the next big advancement towards curing MS.