BPoD has moved!

BPoD has recently changed our domain name - we can now be found at bpod.org.uk

Please update your bookmarks!

Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Illuminating MS
10 February 2014

Illuminating MS

Multiple sclerosis (MS) develops when the immune system attacks myelin, the fatty substance that insulates nerve cells. The disease often lurks undetected long before any symptoms appear, but scientists might have come up with a method for early diagnosis. Using a fluorescent tag to track a protein called thrombin in mice with an MS-like disease, they found that thrombin was most active precisely in the areas where damage to myelin was most severe. Here, high thrombin activity is shown in red in the spinal columns of diseased mice (left three), in contrast to those of healthy control mice (right three). So heightened thrombin activity appears to herald myelin depletion and nerve cell damage, meaning that this thrombin-specific fluorescent tag could potentially be used as an early-detection method for MS. It might also be employed to monitor how patients respond to treatments.

Written by Daniel Cossins

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.