Meet the Researcher: Dr Iain Comerford

In multiple sclerosis (MS), cells of the immune system invade the brain and spinal cord and cause tissue damage that leads to loss of function of the nervous system. A specific class of T cells, a type of immune cell that are strongly implicated in MS, are recruited to the brain and spinal cord. Why this happens is not fully understood. Potential new treatments include drugs that can block the migration of the immune cells that promote inflammation.
Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that inhibit T cell recruitment for MS target T cells may have off-target effects on other aspects of the immune system. Strategies that specifically control pathogenic T cell migration have yet to be identified.
In this project, Dr Iain Comerford and his team will investigate the role of three proteins that they believe work together to promote the recruitment of inflammatory cells into the brain. They will do this by generating models of MS lacking these proteins to determine the effect of this on an MS-like disease.