This project aims to explore the immune system on multiple sclerosis pathophysiology and is divided in 3 branches:
– Tcells@MS. Our recent studies on newly diagnoses RRMS and PPMS patients show that T cells’ phenotype tip towards a less activated phenotype in patients in comparison to healthy controls. Our data strongly suggest broad peripheral immune system alterations, not exclusively related to myelin-reactive T cells, as they are estimated to represent only ~0.0001% of the total peripheral T cells. We aim to explore the mechanisms underlying the lowering of memory T cell numbers, and to understand how these observations and mechanisms can be integrated in the current model of MS pathophysiology. PI: Claudia Nobrega
– COVACiMS. Disease modifying drugs (DMD) are known to impact vaccine’s efficacy. We aim to understand the impact of the several DMD on the effectiveness of the newly introduced COVID-19 vaccines by studying the acquired and humoral immune response of MS patients. This is a multicentric study, involving 8 Portuguese hospitals. PI: João Cerqueira
– FromBarrToMS. Compelling evidence show that Epstein-Barr virus infection precedes MS though the mechanisms for this association are seldom understood. We aim to access the function and the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of EBV specific CD8+ T cells from MS vs. EBV-seroconverted controls. PI: Claudia Nobrega