Idea on vaccination against MS

BACKGROUND:

* Some forms of MS may be caused by the immune system identifying common epitopes on both virus and myelin proteins. The best candidates would appear to be Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Human Herpes Virus-6 (HHV-6).

* EBV antibody titers are high in people with MS

* MOG is not expressed in the thymus and so anti-MOG T Cells can be released from the thymus

* EBV proteins have been computer mapped and folded and one section is a fit for an MBP protein section.

* Everybody has T Cell populations which can be made to attack myelin in a lab - not just people with MS.

* The specific immune system can use different epitopes on different proteins to attack viruses - there seems to be an element of natural selection guiding this and so it may not possible to tell a priori whether one person will develop MS or not. This may explain why some identical twins develop MS whereas others do not.

POSTULATION:

* If the immune system can be guided to use a non-mimicking epitope to deal with EBV and possibly other mimicking pathogens then it may be possible to stop someone developing MS because they will never develop the anti-EBV strategy that may cause MS.

* The vaccine would consist of EBV Proteins that had been computer modeled to ensure that they were not immunogenic. They could then be further tested in EAE models and ex vivo in people with MS.

* If successful, this strategy could be used with other potential autoimmune disease causing pathogens.

* This will not work for people who already have MS, but ASCT, Campath-1H or something more specific may be able to reset the mimicking T Cells and revaccination may then prevent redeveloping the strategy.

* Vaccination with non-mimicking epitopes could be used to eliminate (make extinct) many viruses that are thought to be largely harmless but may, in fact, be dangerous in this and many other ways. We have had great success with polio and smallpox - why stop there?

I would appreciate people thoughts on this idea.

Take care,
Paul
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