Vaccine for Multiple Sclerosis

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Vaccine for Multiple Sclerosis and Other Autoimmune Diseases Overview Multiple Sclerosis afflicts more than 2.5 million people worldwide. MS is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system, and more particularly, the myelin material that surrounds and protects individual nerve fibers. The body's own immune system attacks the myelin, leaving behind lesions and scarring that interrupt electric impulses traveling to and from the brain. No cure exists for MS, but various treatments are available to improve the quality of life for those living with the disease. Technology Mark D. Mannie, PhD, of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, recently developed a unique fusion protein that, when tested in the widely accepted experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) rat and mouse model, produced dramatic tolerogenic effects. Rats and mice whether pretreated or treated following exposure to the EAE stimulating agent, exhibited decreased incidence, reduced symptoms, and delayed onset of attack. Advantages Fusion protein is selective and does not hinder normal T cell activity in the immune system. Platform Technology Disruptive Innovation Other Applications Rheumatoid arthritis Crohn's disease Lupus Diabetes type I Hyperthyroidism Hypothyroidism Selected Publications Mannie MD, Blanchfield JL. Islam SM, Abbott DJ. Cytokine0neuroantigen fusion proteins as a new class of tolerogenic, therapeutic vaccines for treament of inflammatory demyelinating disease in rodent models of mutiple sclerosis. Front Immunol 2012, 3:255. PMID: 22934095 Abbott DJ, Blanchfield JL, Martinson DA, Russell SC, Taslim N, Curtis AD, et al. Neuroantigen-specific, tolerogenic vaccines: GM-CSF is a fusion partner that facilitates tolerance rather than immunity to dominant self-epitopes of myelin in murine models of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). BMC Immunol 2011, 12: 72. PMID:22208499 Blanchfield JL, Mannie MD. A GMCSF-neuroantigen fusion protein is a potent tolerogen in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) that is associated with efficient targeting of neuroantigen to APC. J Leukoc Biol 2010, 87(3): 509-521. PMID:20007248 Inventor Profile Dr. Mark Mannie is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at East Carolina University. His primary research interest is to advance a novel class of tolerogenic vaccines as a therapy for mutiple sclerosis. These vaccines consist of cytokine-neuroantigen (NAg) fusion proteins that act to restore homeostatic self-tolerance in EAE.