Research teams implicate GM-CSF in the pathogenesis of MS
Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:28 pm
Two research teams have separately implicated the cytokine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) as playing a central role in the IL-23-driven neuroinflammatory process that occurs in autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
The separate groups, led by scientists at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and the University of Zurich in Switzerland, have found that IL-23 induces IL-17-producing T helper cells (TH17) to express GM-CSF, and this cytokine plays a key role in their encephalitogenicity. The Thomas Jefferson team notes that although the role of GM-CSF in the pathology of multiple sclerosis is unknown, these latest studies in animal models suggest that blocking GM-CSF activity may represent a feasible therapeutic strategy for multiple sclerosis.... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/1100