Auto-immune diseases to be a thing of the past!

Here is a summary of 2 of the major research streams in the MS Research Programme.

The first key area for our research is in the process of remyelination during multiple sclerosis (MS). Remyelination is the repair process that leads to the replacement of the myelin sheaths around the nerve axons. These myelin sheaths are targeted and destroyed in MS by the immune system, but they can be naturally repaired by the body through remyelination. However, over time and with age, the repair process is not as efficient as it is when we are younger and so when damage to the myelin sheaths is faster than the repair, permanent loss of the nerves results. It is believed that this is one reason behind the accumulation of disability that occurs in progressive MS. Our group, in collaboration with A/Prof Bronwyn Kivell (Victoria) and Prof Thomas Prisinzano (University of Kentucky), is developing new therapeutics that promote remyelination and enhance the repair of the damaged central nervous system during MS. We are in the process of translating our pre-clinical work to assess for use in humans.

The second key area is in understanding the process by which immune cells invade the brain and cause neuroinflammation. In a healthy state, the passage of immune cells into the brain is severely restricted and regulated, but during neuroinflammation the barriers that regulate this trafficking change, enabling immune cells to more readily enter into the brain. We are interested in understanding how special carbohydrates (i.e. sugar molecules) are involved in this process and if they work differently during health or disease. In collaboration with Dr Olga Zubkova (Ferrier Research Institute), we are investigating novel carbohydrates that can mimic the natural ones involved in immune cell trafficking into the brain. These mimics will help us to dissect the precise pathways by which immune cells enter and exit the brain and are promising drug candidates for future development to treat neuroinflammatory diseases such as MS.