Ian Duncan, University of Wisconsin

Delighted to be here . . .

Want to show one slide that shows everything we're involved in.
Left side is 2 images of cells, right side is a woman standing with laufband crutches

The target for MS repair is myelin . . . sheaths that cover millions of axons in our central nervous systems. Without it, we get dysfunction.

Myelin is made by cells called oligodendrocytes.

We want to restore the myelin, not just to restore function but to protect axons from degeneration.

Oligodendrocytes are very complex; we know from years of research in labs around the world that the precursor stage of development holds the most promise for repair.

He's talking about the process in the lab that leads to very pure populations of the exact kind of early-stage oligodendrocyte that you need to make myelin . . . can't write down the details of it here . . .

Cool!! Just saw a time-lapse video of a cell dividing and migrating . .. the migrating action is very important because you need cells to find their way to axons and remyelinate them.

Showing slides of sections of a myelin-mutant rat who got a transplant . . . the little guy got a lot of myelin out of his transplant

Slide showing that it works in humans too . . . (he describes it as beautiful, which it is--the slide he's got up is art, stunning in composition and color) the cells we need are at the 5th iteration of development away from a stem cell.

So, do the cells survive? They checked the rats after 3 months, and the answer was yes.

To finish . . . we're going to transplant our cells right into the area where they need to go and abra cadabra, restoration of myelin and return of function.