WA researchers hope to gain new insights into the way immune cells in the body trigger attacks of multiple sclerosis (MS), thanks to new funding from MS Australia.
MS is a debilitating and progressive condition where a person's immune system mistakenly attacks the brain and spinal cord. More than 33,000 Australians currently live with the disease, for which there is currently no cure.
Dr Stephanie Trend – an Honorary Research Associate at The Kids Research Institute Australia and an MSWA Research Fellow at the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science – will lead a team in investigating the way B cells, a type of immune cell, react to perceived threats, and how this may in turn activate MS.
“We know that B cells play an important role in causing attacks of MS because there are some very good MS treatments that work by removing these cells from the blood,” Dr Trend said.
“B cells can become activated when they detect threats, like viruses or bacteria, to cause immune responses. Unfortunately, sometimes our B cells mistakenly attack parts of our own body, resulting in autoimmune diseases.
“Why this occurs in MS is not clear. If we knew this, then we might be able to develop new treatments to stop this from happening.”
Now, thanks to a three-year, $249,530 grant from MS Australia, a team led by Dr Trend will work to better understand how and why B cells are being unnecessarily spurred into action.
The project will use laboratory-made proteins that mimic the part of the B cell that identifies threats, to investigate what has activated individual B cells.
“Identifying the triggers that have activated B cells in people with MS may help to diagnose the condition earlier, identify people who might be at higher risk of developing MS, or develop better therapies to be used in the future,” Dr Trend said.
Dr Trend’s co-investigators on the project include Dr Tao Wang and Dr Jonatan Leffler from The Kids Research Institute Australia, Emeritus Professor Martyn French from The University of Western Australia (UWA), and Professor Allan Kermode from the Perron Institute and UWA.
The grant is one of 17 new research grants totalling more than $4.5 million, awarded to cutting edge projects across the country by MS Australia as part of its latest major funding round. The grants range from one-year innovative studies to five-year senior fellowships, with all focused on key MS research priorities.
MS Australia CEO Rohan Greenland said the significant investment in MS research demonstrated the organisation's ambitious approach to combat the disease.
"These research projects ensure we're not merely seeking answers, we're actively pursuing them," Mr Greenland said.
For more information on MS Australia and the 2024 round of funded research projects, see here.