In MS, cells of the immune system enter the brain and spinal cord and produce substances that cause inflammation, resulting in damage that leads to the disease symptoms. Understanding how the immune cells enter the brain is likely to lead to better therapeutics that can interfere with this process.  
This project will focus on the ways in which inflammatory immune cells called T cells, enter the brain. New ways to block inflammatory T cell migration will be tested and the disease-causing T cells will be examined in more detail in this study. 
This project should identify new ways in which MS may be better treated in the future. 
Dr Comerford and his team have developed new laboratory models to study the effect of the body’s own immune signals on the disease-causing ability of T cells. They have found several molecules used by cells of the immune system that promote or inhibit inflammatory T cells and their movement into the brain. It is hoped that by blocking or stimulating the paths these T cells take, the team can discover new and more effective ways to reduce inflammation in the brain during MS.
Dr Comerford and his team have also assembled two collections of genes: one that controls how cells move and another that controls T-cell proteins that help turn specific genes on or off.
Over the next 12 months, Dr Comerford and his team will study the mechanisms by which some molecules control the disease functions of T cells. They will test other laboratory models for use in studying the fate of disease-causing Th17 T cells. The team will also continue analysing data produced from single cell CITEseq (a data set of genetic codes for proteins) to produce hypotheses that can be tested regarding new combinations of molecules that govern the movement of disease-causing T cells. New Pro-Codes technology is being established in Dr Comerford’s laboratory to further study Th17 T cells and their movement into the central nervous system.
This project has led to new insights into how cells of the immune system travel into the brain during MS. Dr Comerford and his team identified two proteins that work together to attract harmful inflammatory immune cells into the brain. In the future, it may be possible to block these proteins to prevent this process, potentially stopping inflammation in the brain without suppressing the entire immune system, as many current MS treatments do.
Dr Comerford and his team also discovered another protein in T cells that helps reduce inflammation in a model of MS. Boosting this protein with targeted therapies could offer a new way to treat MS by lowering inflammation while avoiding the side effects of broad immune suppression.
This research has led to major funding success, including multiple competitive grants from MS Australia and the NHMRC to support ongoing work in immune cell function and inflammation in MS. It has also generated numerous scientific publications and notable achievements. Dr Comerford was appointed Senior Lecturer in Immunology at The University of Adelaide in 2025, received a commendation from the NHMRC in 2024 for his contribution to peer review, and has served on NHMRC Ideas Grant panels since 2023. Eight PhD and Honours students have successfully completed their research under his supervision.
Updated 31 March 2025
$390,000
2022
3 years
Current project
