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Nature Medicine 12, 889 - 890 (2006)
doi:10.1038/nm0806-889
Tyrosine kinases: maiming myelin in leprosy
Robin J M Franklin1 & Chao Zhao1
- The authors are in the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES, UK. e-mail: rjf1000@cam.ac.uk
Abstract
Mycobacterium leprae, the bacterium that causes leprosy, causes the breakdown of myelin. This breakdown is now shown to occur through the ErbB2 receptor, a process that can be blocked by Herceptin and kinase inhibitors (pages 961–966).
Few infectious diseases have been with us as long as leprosy, with the earliest descriptions appearing in India around 600 BC. This chronic disease has several manifestations, mainly associated with peripheral nerve damage and the eventual disfiguring skin lesions that historically led to social exclusion.
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RESEARCH
ErbB2 receptor tyrosine kinase signaling mediates early demyelination induced by leprosy bacilliNature Medicine Letter (01 Aug 2006)
