It was previously demonstrated that the CNS-penetrant compound bryostatin-1 (bryo-1) exerts an immunomodulatory effect on myeloid-lineage innate immune cells in the periphery through its actions on protein kinase C (PKC). In a new study, researchers from Johns Hopkins University aimed to assess the potential of bryo-1 for the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) by investigating its effect on remyelination.

Therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) have been effective in relapse prevention but emerging data still show the continued disability progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA), characterized by the presence of ectopic B-cell follicles and active lesions with microglia cells, resulting in a smoldering central nervous system (CNS)-driven inflammation, tissue damage and disease progression.

Microglial cells (MGs) are resident immune cells in the brain, which play a key role in the acute response and chronic recovery to stroke. Investigators at the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston aimed to evaluate MG transcriptomic response to stroke in mouse brain.

NRG Therapeutics Ltd. has been awarded a second US$500,000 grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF), to support its lead drug discovery program and the development of a novel treatment for Parkinson's disease.