Are cells at the brain-blood interface the cells that initiate MS?

Using laboratory models, Associate Professor Sutherland and his team have discovered a novel group of cells that are found on blood vessels in specific regions of the brain, called PDGRF-alpha-positive cells. The team will be doing further studies to understand their function and structure. 

The team also found that removing pericytes, which are cells that are key to communication between the brain’s blood vessels and other cells in the brain, leads to sudden and dramatic changes in the brain. This shows that these cells are very important in maintaining brain function and that the function of blood vessels around nerves and brain tissue are important to keep the brain healthy. 

However, when half of the pericytes were removed along with immune stimulation, there were no obvious injuries to the myelin or changes to the oligodendrocytes. Furthermore, using laboratory models to demonstrate inflammatory loss of myelin led to substantial injuries to blood vessels including leakage of the BBB, reduced concentration of blood vessels and loss of pericytes. Together, this suggests that loss of pericytes in MS may be due to myelin damage, rather than the loss of pericytes being the cause of myelin damage.