2009 Faculty Researchers

Susan McKarns, Ph.D.

Regulation of Multiple Sclerosis

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Department

Surgery and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology

Office Location

Medical Sciences Building, Rm. NW300

Phone #:

Office: (573) 884-1400

Summary

The objective of this project is to test multiple sclerosis (MS)— the most prevalent chronic disabling neurological disease among adults in the United States. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates that MS affects 2.5 million worldwide and that approximately 200 new cases are diagnosed each week in the United States alone. The precise etiology of this degenerative disorder is unknown; but the pathology of MS is caused by an individual’s own immune system, which invades the CNS and attacks the myelin sheath that protects the axons of the nerve cells. There is no known cure.

This project utilizes a well defined murine model of MS, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), and incorporates a cellular, molecular, biochemical and genetic approach to test a novel mechanism for how regulatory T cells may control CNS inflammation. This work has important implications for the treatment of multiple sclerosis as well as other autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis.