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Several common gene variants point to ways in which individuals vary in their susceptibility to the autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), according to two studies, published online in Nature Genetics.
MS affects predominantly young adults of European ancestry, causing recurrent or progressive impairment of nerve function due to an attack by the immune system on the myelin protein sheaths that insulate the nerves. The disease is thought to occur after the immune system of a genetically susceptible person is activated by an environmental trigger, which might be a viral infection. The research by teams led by Philip De Jager and Justin Paul Rubio points to differences between individuals in their responses to the signaling molecules of the immune system called interferons. Author contacts: Philip De Jager (Brigham and Womens' Hospital, Harvard University)
E-mail: pdejager@rics.bwh.harvard.edu Justin Paul Rubio (The Howard Florey Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia)
E-mail: justin.rubio@florey.edu.au Abstracts available online:
Abstract of Paper 1.
Abstract of Paper 2. (C) Nature Genetics press release.
Message posted by: Trevor M. D'Souza
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