Journal Club Recap: June 14, 2019

June 14, 2019: At Journal Club, our experts sat down to discuss a paper on reactive T-cells and grey matter degeneration in MS.

Lodygin et al 2019 - β-synuclein-reactive T cells induce autoimmune CNS grey matter degeneration

T cells, a type of cell in the immune system, are known to be involved in MS. This particular research group was interested in studying a specific type of T cells that react to a protein called β-synuclein. The group investigated how these cells cause grey matter degeneration in the central nervous system. They found that in RRMS patients T cells are more reactive to a protein called myelin basic protein and that in progressive MS patients T cells are more reactive to β-Synuclein. Further research needs to be done to understand if current MS therapies have an effect on these β-synuclein reactive cells.