The findings - which appear in the June issue of Nature Neuroscience - indicate that the molecule known as Lingo-1 seems to act as a switch that directs cells in the central nervous system to wrap nerves in myelin.
     Myelin is the fatty insulation that allows nerves to conduct electrical impulses. MS causes the immune system to break down myelin, damaging and eventually killing nerves.
     One MS researcher hailed Biogen's study as a breakthrough.
     ``It's always been a mystery why the brain and spinal cord have little capacity for repair,'' said Dr. Patricia O'Looney, a research director at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. ``This study is a very important step in our understanding of myelin and what controls its growth and repair.''
     In their experiments, Biogen researchers blocked Lingo-1, which induced cells in the central nervous system to wrap myelin correctly around nerve cells.
      ``Most therapies out there right now deal with the damage-creating part of MS,'' said Dr. John McCoy, Biogen's vice president of discovery biology. ``But there really isn't anything that deals with repairing the damage. That's why this is so exciting.''
     But Dr. David Hafler, a neurologist the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said regenerating nerves is still years away.

     ``This is very important work scientifically,'' Hafler said. ``But it's a long way from the test tube to the drug.''

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