Zeroing in on a treatment for MS through cell migration

An important step in the treatment for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis has been made by University of Adelaide researchers and their international counterparts. The findings published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry detailed the identification of potential inhibitors of specific cell membrane proteins, which are involved in the spread of cancer to other parts of the body (metastasis) and in the progression of autoimmune disease.

“Scientists around the world are looking for ways of blocking the CXCR4 and ACKR3 receptors as a means of preventing or at least slowing down the cell migration that underlies the progression of these diseases,” says Professor Shaun McColl, Director of the Centre for Molecular Pathology at the University of Adelaide.

“We hope these new molecules will be the basis for the design of new drugs that will interfere with cancer metastasis and inhibit multiple sclerosis.”

The newly identified molecules strongly inhibit the action of the two ‘chemokine receptors’ CXCR4 and ACKR3 which work together to regulate cell migration, important in both cancer metastasis and autoimmune disease.

The team hope this discovery will be an important step towards the development of diagnostic therapy for cancer and MS.

“Cancer treatment is at the stage where the aim is to get more specific with treating different cancers so there are fewer side effects of chemotherapy,” says Professor McColl.

“Scientists working in this area are searching for precise molecular targets to inhibit or at least control disease like cancer and multiple sclerosis without harm to other parts of the body.”

“The next stage of this research will be to use molecular modelling to work out exactly where these molecules are binding to the receptors and how they are disrupting their function so they can be further modified for even greater specificity.”