“We hypothesize that the number and subset distribution of innate lymphoid cells are altered in MS patients, and that this is associated with the presence of MS genetic risk variants. “
One of the earliest events in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) is the entrance of immune cells from the blood into the brain, thereby causing inflammation and tissue damage. In healthy individuals, immune cells are kept out of the brain by the blood brain barrier. Disruption of this barrier is therefore an important yet insufficiently defined step in MS. One type of immune cells, the innate lymphoid cells (ILC) have been described to play a role in other diseases with barrier dysfunction, such as inflammatory bowel disease and skin inflammation. In this project, we elucidate the role of ILC in MS, a novel and potentially therapeutically relevant project.
the scientific project
Innate lymphoid cells (ILC) are a recently described subset of lymphocytes with innate properties and can be subdivided into cytotoxic ILC and “helper” ILC. ILC have been well described in diseases where barrier function is disturbed, such as inflammatory bowel disease and skin inflammation. In multiple sclerosis (MS), the blood brain barrier which normally limits immune cell infiltration into the brain parenchyma, is broken down. Given the barrier dysfunction in MS, the implication of ILC in barrier diseases, and the genetic background of MS patients, we hypothesize that the number and subset distribution of ILC are altered in MS patients, and that this is associated with the presence of genetic risk variants for MS.
