Humanized Mouse Models of MS to Target and Eliminate EBV

Start Term
End Term
Funding Amount
$300,000
Affiliation(s)
University of British Columbia
Geographic Region(s) / Province(s)
British Columbia
Researcher(s)
Dr. Marc Horwitz
Research Priorities
Cause of MS
Impact Goal(s)
Prevent MS
Understand and Halt Disease Progression

Summary:  

  • Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a major risk factor for developing MS. However, how it makes a person more susceptible to the disease is not well understood.  

  • Dr. Marc Horwitz and team are developing new humanized mouse models of MS that are more representative of relapsing and progressive disease. They will examine how EBV infection impacts MS symptoms and immune responses in these mice as well as apply different EBV-targeting treatments to identify if there are improvements in disease outcomes.  

  • Findings from this research will further our understanding of EBV’s role in MS development and could lead to new therapeutic strategies to treat and prevent MS.  

Project Description:  

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection has been strongly linked to the development of MS, however the exact mechanisms by which EBV makes a person more susceptible to MS is not well understood. EBV can stay in infected B cells for life without causing symptoms – a process called latent infection – making it difficult to detect and target the virus. 

Dr. Marc Horwitz and team hypothesize that latent EBV infection may disrupt the body’s natural immune response triggering events later in life that cause immune-mediated diseases like MS. The research team has previously developed a mouse model with human-like immune system that can be infected by EBV. Using this humanized mouse model, they found that when immune cells from people with a history of EBV infection are transplanted into these mice, they develop an inflammatory immune response that worsens the MS-like disease. 

For this study, the team will further expand on their previous work by:

  1. Developing new humanized mouse models of MS that better reflect how the disease occurs in people – representative of inflammatory, relapsing MS and progressive MS.
  2. Infecting the new group of mice with EBV to examine how the virus affects MS symptoms and immune responses.
  3. Testing different strategies to either remove or reduce the amount of EBV in the mice and determine if any of the EBV-targeted therapies will improve MS disease outcomes. 

Potential Impact: This research could uncover new knowledge on how EBV contributes to MS development and progression, and how targeting the virus could potentially prevent MS or improve the disease course.

Project Status: In Progress