New avenues of multiple sclerosis treatment inspired by pregnancy
Final Report Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that attacks the brain and spinal cord tissue of young patients and often leads to progressive disability over the course of many years. Despite the use of highly effective immunomodulatory therapies, it is still largely unknown why neurons cannot be protected from damage in MS - not least because a detailed description of this process in brain tissue is difficult. In the present work, we use a new sequencing technology that allows us to visualise the expression of thousands of genes directly in the brain tissue of deceased MS patients with high spatial resolution and to break down the pathological processes of progressive neurodegeneration in detail. On this basis, we were able to identify a previously unknown relation between the loss of growth factors in the brains of patients with progressive MS and the progressive loss of nerve cells. To lay the groundwork for future therapies to address this mechanism, we have prioritised new molecular targets. The work has been published in Nature Neuroscience.
Publications
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Identification of early neurodegenerative pathways in progressive multiple sclerosis. Nature Neuroscience, 25(7), 944-955.
Kaufmann, Max; Schaupp, Anna-Lena; Sun, Rosa; Coscia, Fabian; Dendrou, Calliope A.; Cortes, Adrian; Kaur, Gurman; Evans, Hayley G.; Mollbrink, Annelie; Navarro, José Fernández; Sonner, Jana K.; Mayer, Christina; DeLuca, Gabriele C.; Lundeberg, Joakim; Matthews, Paul M.; Attfield, Kathrine E.; Friese, Manuel A.; Mann, Matthias & Fugger, Lars
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The immunology of multiple sclerosis. Nature Reviews Immunology, 22(12), 734-750.
Attfield, Kathrine E.; Jensen, Lise Torp; Kaufmann, Max; Friese, Manuel A. & Fugger, Lars
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CXCR5+PD-1++ CD4+ T cells colonize infant intestines early in life and promote B cell maturation. Cellular & Molecular Immunology, 20(2), 201-213.
Jordan-Paiz, Ana; Martrus, Glòria; Steinert, Fenja L.; Kaufmann, Max; Sagebiel, Adrian F.; Schreurs, Renée R. C. E.; Rechtien, Anne; Baumdick, Martin E.; Jung, Johannes M.; Möller, Kimberly J.; Wegner, Lucy; Grüttner, Cordula; Richert, Laura; Thünauer, Roland; Schroeder-Schwarz, Jennifer; van Goudoever Johannes, B.; Geijtenbeek, Teunis B. H.; Altfeld, Marcus; Pals, Steven T. ... & Bunders, Madeleine J.
