Grant: CIHR New Investigator

Multiple sclerosis is the most common disease of the brain in young adults: between 55,000 and 75,000 people are affected by this disease in Canada. Despite many years of research, the cause of this illness is still unknown. The immune system usually provides protection against microbes. However, the immune system in multiple sclerosis patients shows abnormalities and it attacks components of the brain as if they were foreign microbes. The purpose of our study is to identify molecules present in the brain of multiple sclerosis patients that are used by the immune system to attack it. A particular type of white blood cells bears the capacity to kill other cells and was observed in the brain of multiple sclerosis patients at the site of tissue destruction. The goal is to analyze these killing cells and determine what potentiate their capacity to be toxic in the brain of multiple sclerosis patients. We hope to identify new molecules and cells that could eventually be targeted by future treatments.