Neuroinflammatory diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS) may occur when the intercellular interactions among the cells of the central nervous system are disturbed. However, until now, researchers did not understand how these disorders change the molecules in ways that cause disease. Now researchers have created a platform to observe these changes, which can be very useful.
To look more closely at what might be causing diseases like MS, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the US have developed a platform that allows them to genetically view cellular interactions and find genes that affect Biological processes They have an effect.
It is important to study intercellular interactions
This new tool named SPEAC-seq Known, it combines CRISPR-Cas9 technology and droplet-based microfluidics technique. Using this platform, the researchers studied the interactions between two types of CNS cells called Microglia and astrocytes investigated and succeeded in identifying a suppressor for a pathogenic astrocyte in preclinical MS models and clinical samples.
This platform identified a microglia-derived amphiregulin protein as a regulator of astrocyte nuclear NF-kappa B activation when examining astrocyte-microglia pairings. In samples from MS patients, astrocyte-derived interleukin-33 activates a receptor in microglia that induces amphiregulin expression and suppresses pathogenic astrocyte responses.
“SPEAC-Seq allows the identification of intercellular communication mechanisms with high throughput and in a quantitative manner,” says Francisco Quintana, the project’s principal investigator from the Ann Romney Center for Neurological Diseases at Brigham Hospital. Systematic gives This platform can have many applications, for example it can be combined with epigenome or transcriptome analyzes to discover therapies that are able to Alteration of intercellular interactions are. We are excited to explore these possibilities for the future.”
Now it remains to be seen how scientists can use this tool to develop new drugs in the coming years. The results of the current research have been published in Science magazine.
