Calcium ions may play key role in MS

Calcium ions may play key role in MS : Science Technology:

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., June 27 U.S. medical researchers have determined calcium ions might play a key role in multiple sclerosis by activating enzymes that degrade myelin sheaths.



Purdue University Assistant Professor Ji-Xin Cheng said learning exactly how the myelin sheath -- the fatty substance that insulates nerve fibers -- is degraded might lead to new treatments.



Purdue researchers focused on how myelin sheaths are degraded by a molecule called lysophosphatidylcholine, known as LPC. Although LPC doesn't cause multiple sclerosis, it's used extensively in research to study the deterioration of myelin, which insulates nerve fibers and enables them to properly conduct impulses in the spinal cord, brain and the body's peripheral nervous system.

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