Isobaric Incorporation of C13-Histidine for the Assessment of Remyelination.

Multiple sclerosis is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system characterized by the loss of the myelin sheath-the nonconductive membrane surrounding neuronal axons. Demyelination interrupts neuronal transmission, which can impair neurological pathways and present a variety of neurological deficits. Prolonged demyelination can damage neuronal axons resulting in irreversible neuronal damage. Efforts have been made to identify agents that can promote remyelination. However, the assessment of remyelination that new therapies promote can be challenging. The method described in this chapter addresses this challenge by using isobaric C13-histidine as a tag for monitoring its incorporation into myelin proteins and thus monitoring the remyelination process.