The Promise of Stem Cells as a Neuroregenerative Approach to the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Claude Bernard, Professor of Neuroimmunology and Associate Director, MISCL, Monash University

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Launch presentation

About the speaker

Claude C. A. Bernard (PhD, DSc) has been a member of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, in Melbourne and the Basel Institute of Immunology before becoming the Director of the Neuroimmunology Laboratory at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Professor Bernard is currently the Head of the Multiple Sclerosis Research Group and the Associate Director of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories. He has published over 190 scientific papers and has written many book chapters dealing with aspects of autoimmunity and multiple sclerosis. He is the recipient of many awards for his contribution to the field of neurosciences and multiple sclerosis.

Abstract

Stem cell transplantation has long been considered a promising regenerative therapy for a number of central nervous system (CNS) diseases. In this study, the therapeutic potential of NCs derived from mouse ES cells and MSCs isolated from different tissues was investigated using an animal model of MS in mice, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Gene expression and/ or immunohistochemistry analysis was used to characterize both NCs and MSCs. Intravenous injections of GFP+ NCs and MSCs from the onset of the disease lead to a significant clinical improvement of this MS-like disease as compared to EAE control mice and those receiving autologous GFP+ BM cells and GFP+ fibroblasts. To understand the cellular mechanism(s) by which neural stem cells and MSCs exert their immunomodulatory effects, the distribution of injected cells was analyzed to determine whether these cells home to the CNS. While GFP+ cells were found in a number of organs, none were detected in the CNS. The mechanism by which this suppressive effect is produced is not clearly apparent but could be the result of immunoregulation and/ or immunosuppression occurring in peripheral lymphoid organs the rather than a direct effect on autoreactive cells present in the CNS.

Launch presentation