Patent ID: 8415106

Claim:
A method of developing a small organic compound that promotes neuronal remyelination, comprising: (a) contacting said small organic compound with a myelinating cell isolated from peripheral or central nervous system, or from a demyelinating lesion of a subject, and (b) detecting an altered expression of a gene or gene product correlated with endoplasmic reticulum stress, relative to a control cell from non-demyelinated tissues from peripheral or central nervous system, wherein the gene or gene product mediates its biological effect through the pancreatic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) kinase gene (PERK) pathway, wherein the detecting of step (b) is accomplished by measuring level of eIF-2 alpha phosphorylation of said myelinating cell, wherein an increased level of eIF-2 alpha phosphorylation of said myelinating cell indicates the ability of the compound in promoting neuronal remyelination.