Possible vaccine against Multiple Sclerosis discovered

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www.msrc.co.uk : Vaccinations & MS Research --

Possible vaccine against Multiple Sclerosis discovered

Researchers at the Heidelberg University Hospital and the German

Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg have succeeded in vaccinating

mice with specially treated, autologous immune cells and preventing

them from developing encephalitis, which is similar to multiple

sclerosis in humans. A protein of the nervous system, that is the

target of the harmful immune reaction in multiple sclerosis, was

placed on the surface of the cells; the cells were treated with an

agent that suppresses immune defense.

The Heidelberg researchers have published their results – initially

online – in the prestigious journal " Proceedings of the National

Academy of Sciences USA " .

The team around Professor Dr. Terness is working in the

Department of Transplantation Immunology (Director: Professor Dr.

Gerhard Opelz) of the Institute of Immunology at the Heidelberg

University Hospital. Professor Terness and his colleagues work

primarily on developing methods to prevent rejection of donor organs

without impairing the immune system.

" The vaccine against multiple sclerosis works on the same principle, "

explains Professor Terness. " We have to teach the immune system not

to fight the donor organ, or in this case its own nerve cells, as a

foreign body. "

In the course of their research on organ rejection, the scientists

successfully treated immune cells (known as dendritic cells) of a

donor animal with the chemotherapeutic agent mitomycin and injected

them into the organ recipient before transplantation – the modified

cells were not attacked. The immune system of the transplant

recipient subsequently accepted the tissue of the donor animal as

well. The results were published in " Transplantation " in 2007.

Subsequently, Professor Terness's team used this procedure to

suppress the harmful immune response in multiple sclerosis – in

cooperation with Dr. Thilo Oelert from the Department of Molecular

Immunology at the German Cancer Research Center they loaded immune

cells from mice with a self protein from the nervous system, treated

them with mitomycin, and reinjected them into the animals.

Afterwards, experimental autoimmune encephalitis – the equivalent of

multiple sclerosis in humans – could no longer be induced in these

mice; they were resistant. " The treated cells express the target

protein and simultaneously suppress the immune response. In this

manner, the immune cells become accustomed to the protein and do not

attack it later, even without the inhibitor, " explains Professor

Terness.

The researchers now want to study whether this method is also

effective for treating already-existing multiple sclerosis. They will

use animal experiments to study whether the vaccine with treated

autologous cells has not only a preventive effect, but a therapeutic

effect as well.

Source: University Hospital Heidelberg (02/12/08)