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Glatiramer prevents BBB Dysfunction in Mouse Multiple Sclerosis Model

Glatiramer is a random polymer of the four myelin basic protein constituent amino acids of glutamic acid, lysine, alanine, and tyrosine.  It is a drug approved for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis, and is marketed by Teva Pharmaceticals as Copaxone. This company sponsored an Israeli study of the effect of glatiramer on the mouse blood brain barrier with results presented on October 4, 2013 at the Congress of the European Committee for the Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis in Copenhagen, Denmark.  The investigators not only showed that glatiramer reduced BBB dysfunction with decreased neurovascular damage, but also showed the central role of BBB disruption in experimental encephalitis, a mouse model for multiple sclerosis.   

A link to the abstract is found here: 

http://registration.akm.ch/einsicht.php?XNABSTRACT_ID=178631&XNSPRACHE_ID=2&XNKONGRESS_ID=195&XNMASKEN_ID=900

Passage of Fibrinogen through the Blood Brain Barrier is Key Element in Neuroinflammatory Disease such as Multiple Sclerosis

A Neurology Today article summarizes the findings of work performed at the University of California, San Francisco, revealing how the fibrinogen activates neuroinflammation in a mouse model for multiple sclerosis.

Follow this link for the story: http://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/Fulltext/2013/01170/Imaging_Tracks_Fibrinogen_Activity_in_MS_Brain.2.aspx

This is the first study to show how leakage of fibrinogen through the blood brain barrier activates microglia and induces rapid clustering of microglia in the matrix around blood vessels, which contributes to axon damage and neuroinflammation.

In Vitro Blood Brain Barrier Modelling for Drug Discovery

Modelling of the blood–brain barrier in drug discovery and development

Clicking on the URL below leads to a Nature Review Drug Discovery article from 2007 which outlines how human brain microvessel endothelial cells (HBMECs) are used in vitro in drug discovery.

http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v6/n8/full/nrd2368.html