Tissue from the spinal cord of mice with Vanishing White Matter. Red marks cells called astrocytes; green marks cells with an active stress response. Image credit: Wong et al. (CC BY 4.0)
Cells must be able to respond to their changing environment in order to survive. When cells encounter particularly unfavorable conditions, they often react by activating a so-called ‘stress’ response. A group of proteins collectively known as eIF2B helps to regulate this response.
In a severe neurological condition called Vanishing White Matter (VWM), the genes that produce the eIF2B proteins contain mutations that make eIF2B less active. As a result, certain cells in people with VWM are always stressed.
Six years ago, researchers discovered a molecule that boosts the activity of eIF2B. In 2018, they found that it also works on various mutant forms of eIF2B found in VWM. The molecule had so far only been tested in biochemical laboratory experiments. Now, Wong et al. – including some of the researchers involved in the 2018 study – have tested whether an improved version of the molecule treats VWM in mice.
The trial treatment successfully halted all signs of the disease in the mice. The molecule blunted the persistent stress response of the cells in the brain and spinal cord, primarily in a cell type that is severely affected by the human form of VWM. Cells in other parts of the body were spared.
Overall, the results of the experiments suggest that an eIF2B activator may prove to be an effective treatment for VWM in humans. It could similarly be used to treat other conditions that activate this abnormal cell stress response. The molecule Wong et al. used is not suitable for use in humans, so work is continuing to find a suitable variant.
