The results of preclinical research headed by a team at Karolinska Institutet have indicated how T cells that play a role in the immune system’s reaction to the common Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can also cross-react with a protein in the brain, ultimately contributing to multiple sclerosis (MS). The team said the study provides new insight into the long-suspected link between EBV and MS. “Our results provide mechanistic evidence that immune responses to EBV can directly damage the brain in MS,” said Olivia Thomas, PhD, assistant professor at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet. “It is a complex neurological disease, and it may be that the molecular mechanisms vary between patients.” Thomas is first author of the team’s published paper in Cell, titled “Anoctamin-2-specific T cells link Epstein-Barr virus to multiple sclerosis.” MS is a chronic inflammatory disease in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system and causes nerve damage. “Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes neurological disability in young adults, with an estimated 2.8 million patients worldwide,” the authors wrote. “MS is characterized by inflammatory lesions in the central nervous system (CNS) and usually presents clinically with a relapsing-remitting phenotype.” Olivia Thomas, PhD [Photo: Erik Holmgren]It has long been known that everyone who develops MS has had an infection with the Epstein-Barr virus, a common virus that often infects young people, sometimes causing glandular fever but often without any obvious symptoms. Exactly how this virus contributes to MS has long been unclear. “Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the common…
