Conditional demyelination and remyelination in a transgenic xenopus laevis

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the first cause of acquired disability progression in the young adult. Pathology of MS associates inflammation, demyelination, and neurodegeneration. The development of immunotherapies, by reducing the relapse rate, has profoundly impacted short-term prognosis and patients’ quality of life. These anti-inflammatory medications, however, have not proven to be sufficient to prevent long-term disability progression, resulting from axonal transection and neuronal damage, consequences of prolonged demyelination. Promoting remyelination is therefore a key therapeutic strategy to limit handicap progression, and represent the major therapeutic challenge in MS. Here we present a simple, rapid, and cost-effective experimental model developed in Xenopus laevis to screen in vivo molecules promoting remyelination.