Alzheimer’s villain cures multiple sclerosis in mice

A notorious biochemical villain has just revealed its heroic side. Beta-amyloid, a misfolded protein fragment blamed for killing brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease, has reversed the symptoms of mice suffering from the rodent equivalent of multiple sclerosis (MS).

MS occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the fatty myelin sheaths around nerve fibres that serve as electrical insulation. Without this insulation, nervous impulses falter, leading to physical and cognitive problems. Myelin increases the speed at which electrical impulses travel around the body.

As it is destroyed, nerve communication falters, leading to physical and cognitive problems. Lawrence Steinman of Stanford University in California had expected amyloid-beta to exacerbate this damage, given that it is toxic to neurons and builds up where myelin sheaths are being destroyed.