Investigating a role for TAM receptor signaling in demyelination

在多发性硬化症中，脑细胞受损，髓磷脂在脱髓鞘过程中丢失。两种叫做Gas6和Protein S的蛋白质可以通过一种叫做tam的蛋白质发出信号，从而影响与MS有关的细胞。我们已经证明Gas6可以影响小鼠脱髓鞘的严重程度，而tam可以影响细胞对干扰素- β的反应，这是一种主要的MS治疗方法。我们计划进一步研究这些蛋白在脱髓鞘过程中的作用以及它们与干扰素- β的相互作用。

In Multiple Sclerosis brain cells are damaged and myelin is lost in a process known as demyelination. Two proteins, called Gas6 and Protein S, can influence cells involved in MS, by signalling through proteins called TAMs. We have shown that Gas6 can affect the severity of demyelination in mice, and that TAMs can affect the response of cells to interferon-beta, a major MS treatment. We plan to further study the effects of these proteins during demyelination, and their interaction with interferon-beta.