NC West Virginia News

A West Virginia University immunologist is investigating how the interaction between two types of immune cells within the central nervous system covering causes multiple sclerosis (MS) to develop. The findings could lead to new strategies for treating the disease and other neurological disorders.

Approximately 2.3 million people worldwide are diagnosed with MS, an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. It occurs when immune cells that typically protect against viruses and bacteria instead attack the body. The initial immune activity takes place in the meninges, three layers of membrane covering the brain and spinal cord that protect them from pathogens.

“We want to study how two immune cell types, T cells and monocytes, interact within the meninges before these immune cells go into the brain and the spinal cord and cause damage,” said Edwin Wan, associate professor in the WVU School of Medicine Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology.

“We know that the interaction between T cells and monocytes in the meninges is critical for MS initiation, and potentially for the disease to progress as well. If we can identify the proteins that regulate the interaction of T cells and monocytes and how they respond and produce other factors to affect disease outcomes, these proteins can be targets for treating the disease.”

While there is no cure for MS, medications and therapeutic strategies aim to reduce relapses' frequency. Currently, there is no effective medication to prevent disease progression.

The study is supported by a $2.5 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Wan and colleague Neil Billington, service assistant professor in the School of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, will conduct this five-year project. Also assisting are Dr. Wen Zheng, a research scientist in Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology at WVU's School of Medicine; Kody Moore from Fairmont; a student in Immunology; and Medical Microbiology undergraduate program.

For this study, researchers will use genetically modified mice to develop a live-imaging approach monitoring immune cell interactions in the spinal cord after inducing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis—a disease model in mice mirroring human MS. Advanced imaging techniques will allow viewing a time-lapse of how immune cells interact within a small area of intense activity in the spinal cord.

“This is an especially innovative aspect of studying T cells' interactions with monocytes in a live animal,” Wan stated. “Using this technique, we can figure out the dynamic interaction outcome.”

Wan hopes understanding more about interactions between central nervous system components and immune systems can be applied to treating other neurological diseases.

“There is more recognition about immune system involvement in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease,” he said. “Additionally, we know that it also plays roles in brain damage recovery after stroke events where both T cells and monocytes are involved. I’m very interested to compare different responses of these immune cells toward various neurological diseases.”

Editor’s note: The use of animals was evaluated by WVU Institutional Animal Care Use Ethics Committee. WVU is voluntarily accredited by AAALAC—an organization establishing global benchmarks for animal well-being in science.