10 May 2013

Research being led by Université de Sherbrooke professor Denis Gris is taking an interesting approach to fighting multiple sclerosis: protecting central-nervous-system cells against chronic inflammation.

Gris and his team are more specifically working to validate the action of two immunoregulatory proteins. The preliminary results are encouraging.

“These proteins might be interesting targets for new therapeutic interventions, which would contribute to improving quality of life for people living with multiple sclerosis,” pointed out the researcher at the CRCELB clinical research centre (Centre de recherche clinique Étienne-Le Bel) at CHUS (Sherbrooke University Hospital Centre).

The Canadian Multiple Sclerosis Society recently awarded Gris, a professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, an operating grant of $293,061.

Prospects for Several Diseases

Multiple sclerosis is not the only disease that might benefit from Gris’ research work: the neuroinflammation targeted by his work also occurs in several other degenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Source: Université de Sherbrooke
Photo credit: Robert Dumont