Researchers have developed a method for identifying the immune cells involved in autoimmune diseases, and identified four new target molecules of potential significance for future personalised treatment of multiple sclerosis. 

Researchers at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet in Grönlund, Sweden, in collaboration with KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Region Stockholm developed a method that makes it possible to identify the T cells that react to certain target molecules –autoantigens. The study describes four new autoantigens that can be added to the handful of ones previously identified in MS and will make a significant contribution to future developments in diagnosis and treatment. Given that people with MS can react to different autoantigens, it is important to identify each patient’s disease-driving immune cells. This way of creating personalised treatment is called precision medicine.

The present study involved 63 proteins analysed in blood samples from MS patients and healthy controls, four of which demonstrated autoimmune reactivity in MS: FABP7, PROK2, RTN3 and SNAP91. The tested proteins were selected in collaboration with the Human Protein Atlas and Professor Torbjörn Gräslund at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and the study was conducted by KI, KTH and Region Stockholm.

The results were published in the journal Science Advances.