All you can EAAT3: restoring myelin, the brain's favourite fat

This research is about protecting the cells that are responsible repairing myelin in the brain of patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). We know that in this disease, these cells do not repair this important structure, called myelin, anymore. Patients with progressive MS currently have no access to sufficient treatment. On top of that, relatively young people (age 20-40), as well as more women than men, get the diagnosis MS, making it the most debilitating disease in young adults. This thesis investigated the role of a specific protein involved in the protection of these myelin repair cells. Two different models were used to accomplish this: myelin repair cells in a dish, as well as mice. In both models, the presence of this protein was increased, but also blocked, to see what the effects are in the context of MS.