There has been significant interest in the potential of autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) to improve clinical outcomes for people living with MS. AHSCT has been shown in previous research, including studies conducted by researchers at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, to “re-set” the immune system, possibly leading to disease remission and better outcomes for people living with MS. However, the type of individual most likely to benefit from AHSCT is still being determined.
St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney is one of the leading hospitals performing AHSCT in MS in Australia and has a strategic partnership with MS Australia to advance cellular therapies such as AHSCT. St Vincent’s Hospital also has a biobank of blood samples collected from people living with MS over time, both before and after the AHSCT procedure.
Dr Malini Visweswaran and her team hope to shed light on how AHSCT induces the benefits seen in MS. Current thinking is that changes to the metabolic state of immune cells may be important in this process. This concept will be investigated in this study by closely examining the metabolic profile of immune cells to see how the transplant affects their metabolism.
The research team has access to the biobank of blood samples and clinical progress reports of past patients and can match the laboratory results to clinical outcomes to gain an even deeper understanding of the procedure.
By understanding these underlying mechanisms, it is hoped that safer and more effective transplant options may be developed. Furthermore, it will enhance understanding of the processes contributing to a successful AHSCT outcome and the best candidates for the procedure in people living with MS.
Dr Visweswaran and her team have made strong progress in their study investigating how immune cells behave metabolically before and after AHSCT in people with MS. This work builds on their earlier findings, where key changes were observed in immune cell metabolism, particularly in regulatory T cells and natural killer cells, during the early post-transplant period.
Over the past year, the team completed all laboratory experiments and analysed samples. Using a specialised technique called Met-flow, they mapped how energy-related proteins are expressed across various immune cell types. They found that conventional T cells (T-conv) in people with MS adopt a more energy-efficient metabolism after transplant, favouring fatty acids as a fuel source even up to two years later. This could be a sign of long-term immune system adaptation.
To complement these findings, the team also used a real-time analysis tool (the Seahorse Analyser) to assess how immune cells function metabolically. While these tests did not show strong differences across groups, the results add another important layer to understanding immune cell behaviour post-transplant.
This project is one of the first to examine metabolic changes in immune cells over time in the context of MS and AHSCT. The results have already been presented at a national MS research conference, and an abstract has been accepted for oral presentation at a prestigious international meeting in Florence in 2025.
The team has also secured further funding from the St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation ($40,000) and an MS Australia Incubator Grant ($25,000) to continue exploring the role of immune cells in brain repair. Their work lays an important foundation for future research into how targeting immune cell metabolism could one day support new treatments for people with MS.
Updated 31 March 2025
$165,000
2021
3 years
Current project
