Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects 250,000 people in the US. MS is a chronic immunopathological disease due to T cell-mediated response to central nervous system (CNS) autoantigens, resulting in multiple focal CNS lesions and clinical manifestations. The current treatments for MS require regular injections, yet do not effectively prevent relapse of disease. Recent results from numerous laboratories have demonstrated that the progressive deterioration of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an MS model in rodents, is effectively suppressed by administration of autoantigens to the mucosal immune tissues. A cost-effective, easy to administer medication tackling the cause of MS will help MS patients to live a productive life. Based on the preliminary results of a peptide analog which effectively inhibited relapses of EAE in SJL mice when administered intro-nasally, this proposal aims to continue testing this analog and two additional auto-immune suppressive peptides to a specific cellular pathway of the immune tissues to induce organ-specific immunosuppression. The Phase I SBIR will enable the synthesis and testing of these analogs for treating the murine EAE. The proposes approach has the potential application for treating juvenile diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and for protecting organ transplants.
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