Scientists at Xoma Corp. have obtained evidence about the roleof T cells in multiple sclerosis that suggests a route towardtreating the degenerative neurological disease.

MS affects 250,000 Americans yearly. To date, no effectivetreatment has been devised for the disease.

The Xoma results, published Monday in the Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences, show that characteristics of Tcells taken from people with the disease dovetail withsuggestive data on a possible cure in animals.

In MS, T lymphocytes appear to mistakenly attack a proteincomponent in the myelin sheath of nerve cells. Myelin is theinsulating coating that allows proper transmission of impulsesfrom nerves to muscle.

In animals, scientists had found that T cells specificallyaimed at myelin basic protein all express a certain receptorthat guides the T cells in their attack.

Now, the Xoma researchers and their colleagues at the NationalJewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine inDenver, and the Veterans Administration Medical Center inPortland, Ore., have shown that T cells from MS patients,reactive with myelin basic protein, also preferentially expresscertain receptors.

In humans, this bias means that a treatment based on the Tcell receptors is feasible. "If there weren't a bias, you wouldneed to knock out" too many targets, Xoma's vice president forcorporate development, Glenn Nedwin, told BioWorld.

Injecting a peptide from the T cell receptor in animals canprotect and treat animals with an experimentally induceddisease that mimics MS.

In Portland, a trial in 10 MS patients is under way, using ananalogous peptide. Xoma is funding the Phase I trial and willuse information gathered to file an investigational new drugapplication in 1992 for a product under development within thecompany, Nedwin said.

Xoma stock (NASDAQ:XOMA) closed at $15, up 25 cents, on Tuesday.

-- Roberta Friedman, Ph.D. Special to BioWorld

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.