A new study from Stanford Medicine found that part of the Epstein-Barr virus mimics an adhesion protein made in the brain and spinal cord, leading the immune system to mistakenly attack the body’s nerve cells.
The adhesion protein is GlialCAM, found in the insulating sheath on nerves. Epstein-Barr virus, a common type of herpes virus, triggers multiple sclerosis by priming the immune system to attack our own neuron system. The study found that approximately 20% to 25% of patients with multiple sclerosis have antibodies in their blood that bind tightly to both a protein from the Epstein-Barr virus, called EBNA1, and the adhesion protein made in the brain and spinal cord GlialCAM. To search for this elusive mechanistic link, the researchers started by examining the antibodies produced by immune cells in the blood and spinal fluid of nine MS patients. Unlike in healthy individuals, the immune cells of MS patients traffic to the brain and spinal cord -- highly neurotrophic, where they produce large amounts of a few types of antibodies. Patterns of these antibody proteins, called oligoclonal bands, are found during analysis of the spinal fluid and are part of the diagnostic criteria for MS. No one knows exactly what those antibodies bind to or where they’re from previously.
This finding is really important and interesting in that it illustrates how autoimmune disease ever generated, not only by what mechanism but also where it came from.
---Wenqi Song
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