GDP-l-fucose synthase is a CD4+ T cell–specific autoantigen in DRB3*02:02 patients with multiple sclerosis (2018) Planas et al

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Study:
GDP-l-fucose synthase is a CD4+ T cell–specific autoantigen in DRB3*02:02 patients with multiple sclerosis
http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/10/462/eaat4301

Press Release:
Link between gut flora and multiple sclerosis discovered
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181011103636.htm

In the journal Science Translational Medicine, the scientists report that T cells -- i.e. the immune cells responsible for pathological processes -- react to a protein called GDP-L-fucose synthase. This enzyme is formed in human cells as well as in bacteria frequently found in the gastrointestinal flora of patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. "We believe that the immune cells are activated in the intestine and then migrate to the brain, where they cause an inflammatory cascade when they come across the human variant of their target antigen," says Mireia Sospedra.

"Our clinical approach specifically targets the pathological autoreactive immune cells," says Sospedra. This approach therefore differs radically from other treatments that are currently available, which throttle the whole immune system.