Brain Remyelination Therapies
Description:
Brain myelin integrity is strongly correlated with cognitive performance, and declines progressively after age 30. Loss of myelin leads to axonal loss, and so remyelination has been theorized to potentially reverse both white and gray matter decline with aging. Industry focus in remyelination therapies is generally directed at multiple sclerosis treatments, although these therapies may have utility also for Alzheimer’s disease and normal cognitive decline.
Key Group(s):
Myelin Repair Foundation – Many basic and translational research efforts underway, although no clinical trials yet.
Q Therapeutics – CIRM-funded preclinical development of oligodendrocyte stem cell therapy.
Dr. George Bartzokis (UCLA) – Basic research.
Reference(s):
- George Bartzokis, “Age-related myelin breakdown: a developmental model of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease,” Neurobiology of Aging 25, no. 1 (January 2004): 5-18.
- Faith M Gunning‐Dixon et al., “Aging of cerebral white matter: a review of MRI findings,” International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 24, no. 2 (February 1, 2009): 109-117.
- M. Dubois-Dalcq et al., “From fish to man: understanding endogenous remyelination in central nervous system demyelinating diseases,” Brain 131, no. 7 (2008): 1686.
- George Bartzokis, “Age-related myelin breakdown: a developmental model of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease,” Neurobiology of Aging 25, no. 1 (January 2004): 5-18.
- “Myelin Repair Foundation: Myelin Repair Research Results”, n.d., http://www.myelinrepair.org/myelin_repair/research_results.shtml.
- S. P.J Fancy et al., “Overcoming remyelination failure in multiple sclerosis and other myelin disorders,” Experimental Neurology (2010).
- Robin J. M. Franklin and Charles ffrench-Constant, “Remyelination in the CNS: from biology to therapy,” Nat Rev Neurosci 9, no. 11 (November 2008): 839-855.
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