Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disease in young adults, affecting more than 2 million individuals worldwide, with about 1500 cases in Estonia. About 20% of MS patients experience optic neuritis (ON) as the presenting symptom, but not all ON patients develop MS. The TalTech gene technology research unit, in collaboration with the laboratory of Protobios OÜ and medical researchers of the University of Helsinki, published their findings in the prestigious journal of EBioMedicine entitled "Identification of two highly antigenic epitope markers predicting multiple sclerosis in optic neuritis patients." The lead author Helle Sadam and co-authors Mariliis Jaago and Annika Rähni are the Ph.D. students of the TalTech Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology.

We have developed and patented a very powerful technology called Mimotope Variation Analysis (MVA) for the development of diagnostic tests and delineation of novel drug targets. It is based on the recognition of the diversity of the human B-cell immune response or antibody profile. The immune response mediated by B-lymphocytes plays an important role in the development of both MS and ON pathologies, so it is a promising target for detecting early diagnostic biomarkers for named diseases."

The results provide a broad, high-resolution view on humoral immunity associated with different cases and report on the prognostic value of viral antibodies as novel blood biomarkers for predicting risk of MS after the first episode of ON.

Regards

John
Editorial Assistant
Immunogenetics Open Access