Deimination is a protein modification that can have either good or bad effects, depending on where the deiminated protein is located.ĭeiminase converts an amino acid, called arginine, into a related amino acid, called citrulline.

Bhattacharya’s team kept finding heightened levels of deiminase, the enzyme that causes deimination, in the optic nerves of MS patients. Myelin acts like the rubber coating around electrical wires, and when it’s destroyed, neurons can have trouble transmitting information. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder, during which the immune system attacks the myelin sheaths that insulate neurons. This work was recently honored by the Department of Defense through their Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. The research has led the team to a biological process, called deimination, that plays a key role in MS. Sanjoy Bhattacharya, Ph.D., who leads a research team at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has been investigating ways to prevent the vision loss associated with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Bascom palmer university of miami