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Single-nucleus RNA-seq of normal-appearing brain regions in relapsing-remitting vs. secondary progressive multiple sclerosis

Single-nucleus RNA-seq of normal-appearing brain regions in relapsing-remitting vs. secondary progressive multiple sclerosis

Source : https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.10.475705v1

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated demyelinating disease that alters central nervous system (CNS) functions. Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) is the most common form, which can transform into secondary-progressive MS (SPMS) that is associated with progressive neurodegeneration.


Notably, SPMS brains downregulated astrocytic sphingosine kinases (SPHK1/2) – the enzymes required to phosphorylate and activate the MS drug, fingolimod. This reduction was modeled with astrocyte-specific Sphk1/2 null mice in which fingolimod lost activity, supporting functionality of observed transcriptomic changes. These data provide an initial resource for studies of single cells from non-lesioned RRMS and SPMS brains.