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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.  Â
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. Â
This project should identify new ways in which MS may be better treated in the future. Â
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.
Accepted for publication
Updated 31 March 2024Â
$390,000
2022
3 years
Current project
