Multiple sclerosis: Newly discovered signal mechanism causes T cells to turn pathogenic

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the patient’s own cells. In this case, modified T cells destroy the myelin sheath surrounding nerve cells. Myelin protects the neural pathways and is thus essential to the ability of nerve cells to transmit information. A recent study has demonstrated that a substance known as interleukin 6 (IL-6) plays an important role in instructing T cells to cause damage to myelin sheaths in the central nervous system.