Regulators of brain immune cell function that promote brain tissue healing

Summary

Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects more than 25,000 Australians. While current treatments can reduce symptoms in some types of MS, they do not prevent long term damage and they do not work in all people with MS.  

Neurons extend long conduits called axons which they use to transmit electrical signals. In healthy brains, these axons are wrapped in a substance called myelin which insulates and protects them. In MS, uncontrolled inflammation in the brain causes damage to the myelin (demyelination) leaving the axons exposed to damage, and if they are not efficiently re-wrapped with myelin (remyelination) they can be destroyed. Over many years axons and neurons are destroyed in people with MS, leading to permanent damage and subsequent disability. New treatments that protect and repair the brain are desperately needed to prevent this disease progression.  

Microglia are caretaker brain cells responsible for regulating damaging inflammation. Microglia can be either damaging or protective depending on the context in which they encounter inflammation. Protective microglia promote remyelination and protect axons in MS, thus they are an excellent target for the development of new treatments for MS. However, there are currently no treatments that stimulate microglia to become more protective. This project focuses on understanding the roles of microRNA, a kind of molecular control switch in the microglia that can cause them to become protective and thus repair inflammatory damage. This research will open new avenues to novel therapies that reduce symptoms through promoting remyelination and protecting axon protection and prevent long term damage and disability in people with MS.