Engineered immunological niche directs therapeutic development in models of progressive multiple sclerosis

What is it about?

Primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) progresses swiftly and causes lasting neurological damage, leaving many patients in need of walking aids within just a decade of diagnosis. While Ocrelizumab, the first drug approved for PPMS in 2017, offers some hope by slowing disease progression, it doesn’t deliver full remission or reverse disabilities, and it carries risks of immunosuppression. Yet, developing new therapies is challenging because the disease is complex and dynamic involving many different cells, some of which (the immune cells), can move between tissue and blood. Furthermore, it occurs in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) meaning it is difficult to access cellular and molecular information about the disease. We hypothesized that we could develop a surrogate inflamed tissue containing both immune and stromal compartments that would help us understand cellular and molecular events occurring within tissues in disease. We used these tools to monitor cell-cell communication in models of PPMS and deepen our understanding of disease. We then used these insights to create a new treatment for the disease that was effective in mice.

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Photo by Bioscience Image Library by Fayette Reynolds on Unsplash

Photo by Bioscience Image Library by Fayette Reynolds on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This work highlights that new bioengineered materials can serve as a surrogate site for diseased tissue in progressive MS models and provide cellular and molecular information about disease. This information can be used to create new treatments. Beyond MS, the biomaterial scaffolds are likely to be valuable tools for broader immunological investigations. By providing an accessible means to study immune dynamics, these scaffolds could unlock new understandings not just in MS, but potentially in other autoimmune conditions.