Oxford scientists working on treatments for multiple sclerosis are in the running for a prize of 1m euros -- £650,000 -- awarded by the European Commission.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease of the nervous system affecting 85,000 people in the UK, for which there is no cure.

Oxford is one of six centres involved in the research, led by Prof Lars Fugger, from Aarhus University, in Denmark, which succeeded in describing how the disease starts.

Prof Fugger is spending a year's sabbatical working at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

The Oxford team -- Prof Yvonne Jones, Heather Lang, Dr Karl Harlos, Dr Shinji Ikemizu, Prof David Stuart and Prof John Bell -- helped to identify compounds in the brains of MS patients which explain how their immune system over-reacts to start attacking their own cells.

They also showed how a virus can mimic a compound found naturally in the nervous system and trigger the disease, which usually causes sudden neurological symptoms including vision loss, paralysis, numbness, and walking difficulties.

The scientists have bred mice with the genetic defects of human MS patients to help them to develop and test new drugs to treat MS patients.

They are working with European industrial partners to develop the drugs, some of which are already being tested. Pharmaceutical companies are also involved in the work, and some potential treatments are already undergoing tests.

As well as the Oxford and Danish teams, scientists from Sweden, Scotland and the USA are involved in the research.

It is one of 10 projects shortlisted for the Descartes Prize, awarded for outstanding scientific research through international collaboration.

The winners will be named on Thursday of next week at the European Patent Office headquarters in Munich, Germany.

There were 108 entries -- the highest number since the prize scheme was launched two years ago.