Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an enigmatic immune mediated disease of the central nervous system that affects about 350,000 individuals in the US, and many more around the world. The mechanism of this disease is largely unknown and there is no cure for it. However, there are several well-characterized experimental animal models that help us understand and speculate about potential mechanisms of pathology in this disease. Many of the experimental therapies designed for this disease rely on testing the drugs in animal models before using it in clinical trials. This book combines for the first time the different experimental models for MS (including immune-mediated and viral) under one roof, and highlights aspects that are different or shared among these experimental models. It’s aim is to improve our understanding of this devastating disease and help us think about potential additional therapies for it.

The collection of systems represented in this volume is a unique effort to reflect the diversity and utility of models used in biomedicine. That utility is based on the consideration that observations made in particular organisms will provide insight into the workings of other, more complex systems. This volume is therefore a comprehensive and extensive collection of these important medical parallels.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an enigmatic immune mediated disease of the central nervous system that affects about 350,000 individuals in the US, and many more around the world. The mechanism of this disease is largely unknown and there is no cure for it. However, there are several well-characterized experimental animal models that help us understand and speculate about potential mechanisms of pathology in this disease. Many of the experimental therapies designed for this disease rely on testing the drugs in animal models before using it in clinical trials. This book combines for the first time the different experimental models for MS (including immune-mediated and viral) under one roof, and highlights aspects that are different or shared among these experimental models. It’s aim is to improve our understanding of this devastating disease and help us think about potential additional therapies for it.

Multiple sclerosis is the most common debilitating neurological disease in people under the age of forty in the developed world. Many publications cover medical and clinical approaches to the disease; however, The Biology of Multiple Sclerosis provides a clear and concise up-to-date overview of the scientific literature on the various theories of MS pathogenesis. Covering the main elements of scientific research into multiple sclerosis, the book contains chapters on the neuropathology of the disease as well as an account of the most extensively used animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. The book contains chapters regarding the role of viruses in the development of multiple sclerosis. Viruses have long been implicated and chapters on animal models based on virus infection, as well as their possible role in the etiology of MS, are included. Of interest to MS researchers, the book is written to also be of value to postgraduate and medical students.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic and often disabling disease of the nervous system, affecting about 1 million people worldwide. Even though it has been known for over a hundred years, no cause or cure has yet been discovered-but now there is hope. New therapies have been shown to slow the disease progress in some patients, and the pace of discoveries about the cellular machinery of the brain and spinal cord has accelerated. This book presents a comprehensive overview of multiple sclerosis today, as researchers seek to understand its processes, develop therapies that will slow or halt the disease and perhaps repair damage, offer relief for specific symptoms, and improve the abilities of MS patients to function in their daily lives. The panel reviews existing knowledge and identifies key research questions, focusing on: Research strategies that have the greatest potential to understand the biological mechanisms of recovery and to translate findings into specific strategies for therapy. How people adapt to MS and the research needed to improve the lives of people with MS. Management of disease symptoms (cognitive impairment, depression, spasticity, vision problems, and others). The committee also discusses ways to build and financially support the MS research enterprise, including a look at challenges inherent in designing clinical trials. This book will be important to MS researchers, research funders, health care advocates for MS research and treatment, and interested patients and their families.

This volume provides an introduction to the essential techniques required for studying the molecular biology of brain disease. The approaches and strategies for investigations of gene structure and regulation are described with reference to the molecular genetics of prion and Alzheimer's disease. The effects of aberrant gene regulation can also be examined at the protein level by immunocytochemistry and autoradiography. Improved understanding of basic biology has resulted in new approaches to animal models using transgenic techniques and new therapeutic approaches. The volume is structured to illustrate all these approaches and demonstrate the practice and promise of molecular neuropathology.