Siffrin Lab

Description

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS), which causes prolonged and severe disability in young adults. Disability in MS is directly related to the degree of axonal damage. It has been shown that the induction of neuroaxonal damage is present early in the disease process and phases of damage and repair take place continuously. The group's main goal is to understand the complex dynamic interactions of immune cells with CNS cells. Using various techniques, they visualise CNS and immune cells and cellular effector functions, e.g. Ca2+ dynamics or cytokine expression in animal models and in human cell culture models. This serves to understand the sequential steps of immune cell penetration and local tissue damage processes. These studies are accompanied by standard cellular and molecular biological analyses. The group aims to identify new therapeutic targets that can be used to prevent or regenerate neuroaxonal damage. Description adapted from working group website: see link above.