Currently available therapies to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) lack precision and can lead to serious side effects.
Researchers at KI have now developed a method for identifying the immune cells involved in autoimmune diseases and have identified four new target molecules of potential significance for future personalized treatment of MS. The results, published in Science Advances, have been obtained in collaboration with KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Region Stockholm.
A hospital. Image credit: Max Pixel, CC0 Public Domain
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that usually develops between 20 and 40. The condition is driven by immune cells that mistakenly attack the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord neurons. MS causes neurological symptoms such as sensory disorders, difficulties with walking and balance, and impaired vision. There is no cure, only treatments that reduce relapse rates and alleviate symptoms.
Four new autoantigens
“Existing MS treatments are quite indiscriminate in their effect on the immune system, which risks eventually causing complications, such as infections,” says Mattias Bronge, a Ph.D. student in Hans Grönlund’s research group at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet. “Guiding future treatments more accurately towards the immune cells driving the disease can lead to greater efficacy and fewer side effects.”
Working alongside Professor Tomas Olsson’s research group at Karolinska Institutet, Grönlund and his team have developed a method that makes it possible to identify the T cells that react to specific target molecules – so-called autoantigens. The present study describes four new autoantigens that can be added to the handful of ones previously identified in MS and will significantly contribute to future developments in diagnosis and treatment.
Precision medicine
“Our method makes it possible to present these autoantigens to enable us to identify and subsequently disable the T cells that react to them,” says Hans Grönlund, Docent of immunology.
People with MS can react to different autoantigens, so it is essential to identify each patient’s disease-driving immune cells. This way of creating personalized treatment is called precision medicine.
“Once a patient’s individual autoantigen profile is identified, a treatment can be adapted accordingly,” explains Dr Grönlund. “Most autoimmune diseases are driven by T cells, and if we can find a way to target them in diseases like MS, we can pave the way for more precise treatments with fewer side effects for other autoimmune diseases. Thanks to our long-standing collaboration with Professor Roland Martin at the University of Zürich, our method will be included in the phase 2 clinical study that aims to ‘switch off the aggressive T cells which drive MS development and progression.”
Blood samples from MS patients
The present study involved 63 proteins analyzed in blood samples from MS patients and healthy controls, four of which demonstrated autoimmune reactivity in MS; FABP7, PROK2, RTN3, and SNAP91. The tested proteins were selected in collaboration with the Human Protein Atlas and Professor Torbjörn Gräslund at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The study was conducted by KI, KTH, and Region Stockholm.
Source: Karolinska Institutet