Memory B Cells Activate Brain-Homing, Autoreactive CD4+ T Cells in Multiple Sclerosis (2018) Jelcic et al

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Study:
Memory B Cells Activate Brain-Homing, Autoreactive CD4+ T Cells in Multiple Sclerosis
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867418310274

News Article:
How B-cells Work to Promote T-cell Attacks on Myelin That Lead to MS Detailed in Study
https://multiplesclerosisnewstoday....n-multiple-sclerosis-onset-detailed-in-study/

B-cells in the immune system play an important role in the unfolding of inflammation and brain lesions in multiple sclerosis (MS), largely by how they influence the actions of another immune system cell, called T-cells, a new study reports.

Its findings help explain why therapies like Ocrevus and off-label use of rituximab, both of which act on B-cells, are effective in controlling MS.

A team of researchers at the University of Zurich and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden report that memory B-cells, so-called because they normally work to remind the immune system of past threats so that such invaders (like viruses) are stopped quickly, also cause autoreactive T-cells to proliferate in MS patients. Once these cells reach the brain, they promote inflammation and demyelination (loss of myelin).

That misguided T-cells are key players in attacks on the body’s nerve tissue in MS is well-known, but the study showed how B-cells are crucial to the damage done by these T-cells, the researchers said.

“We were able to show for the first time that certain B-cells — the cells of the immune system that produce antibodies — activate the specific T-cells that cause inflammation in the brain and nerve cell lesions,” Roland Martin, MD, PhD, director of the Clinical Research Priority Program Multiple Sclerosis at University Hospital Zurich, said in a press release.