Using CARS imaging techniques explore the myelin protection clues

Indiana State: Researchers have discovered ions in calcium that can play a major role in multiple sclerosis by activating enzymes that degrade the adipose fat membrane to protect nerve fibers from affected.

Ji-Xin Cheng, assistant professor at Purdue University's Weldon Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, said: "Correctly grasp the reason why degenerative myelin can cause scientists to confirm." determine how to prevent the development of the disease and reverse the destruction by planting a new myelin.

"Although multiple sclerosis has been studied for years, no one knows exactly how the disease can begin so soon," he said. There are no clear signs. '

Researchers at Puedue University have used an imaging technique called ' coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering' , or CARS for short , to study the cause of myelin being degenerated by a molecule. called lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC). LPC does not cause multiple sclerosis, but it is widely used in laboratory studies to study the degradation of myelin, which helps protect and prevent nerve fibers from being affected. moving and making them capable of transmitting impulses up the spinal cord, brain and peripheral nervous system throughout the body.

The findings suggest that LPC causes degeneration of this protective film by allowing calcium ions to enter the inside of myelin . The concentration of calcium ions increases, then activates two enzymes - calpain and cytosolic phospholipase A2 - to break down myelin proteins and molecules, also known as lipids.

Cheng said: 'It is also possible that the same sign that causes myelin degeneration becomes worse from the multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries.'

He said - The study proves that microscopic examination using CARS technique is a valuable research tool and can become a method of examination and treatment in the future to diagnose multiple sclerosis and detects damage to the spinal cord due to unexpected injuries, and this also causes degeneration of myelin.

The findings of the study are detailed in an article published online this month in the Journal of Neuroscience Research . The article was written by Yan Fu, a doctoral student of Y-Bi and Haifeng Wang-research PhD students; Terry B. Huff, assistant professor of Faculty of Chemistry; Riji Shi, associate professor of basic medical science at Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine and an associate professor of Biomedical Engineering; and Cheng.

'The findings of this study will help us identify the key steps in the progression of demyelination, which is a hallmark of multiple sclerosis,' said Shi, a researcher at the Institute. Applied Neurology and Purdue Polio Research Center said: 'This information will also facilitate the intention to intervene with western medicine to slow or even completely reverse the progression of the disease. weakness. '

The researchers used CARS to study and obtain images of healthy myelin and infected myelin. They demonstrated that the enzyme - also known as 'cytosolic phospholipase A2' contributes to myelin degradation by severing one of the two tails used to make lipid molecules contained in myelin . Removing one of the tails turns lipid molecules into LPC, which adds to the impact and causes more degradation for myelin.

The study was done in the spinal cord tissues taken from animals in the sciatic nerves of living mice.

These findings have been confirmed by comparing the results from the CARS technique with images taken from electron microscopy and measurements by electrical impulses in spinal tissue to distinguish between normal myelin and myelin disease.

CARS imaging techniques take advantage of when molecules vibrate up to certain frequencies. In the CARS technical microscope, two laser beams are overlapped to form a single beam of new frequencies, instead of the difference of the two original beams. This new frequency, then, will cause certain molecules to vibrate ' at the same time ', amplifying signals from the other molecules.

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences, along with support from the state of Indiana and the Bindley Biological Science Center at Discovery. Park - Purdue.

Future research will include a collaboration with Northwestern University researchers to study how to replenish myelin on animals.

Danh Phuong