Project R-11240

Spinal cord injury induced autoantibodies as biomarkers for patient stratification (Research)

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition that is caused by damage to the spinal cord, often leading to paralysis and loss of sensory function. Current neurological scoring systems and imaging techniques are insufficient to predict disease progression and therapy response due to high patient heterogeneity. Recent findings revealed that antibodies are major detrimental players in SCI. During SCI, the blood-spinal cord barrier is disrupted, resulting in the release of central nervous system proteins into the blood. These proteins elicit an immune response involving the production of autoantibodies, that contribute to additional damage. The goal of this project is to identify and characterise novel SCI-induced autoantibodies that will support the stratification of SCI patients for diagnosis, prognosis and therapy response. Blood samples of SCI patients will be screened for antibodies reactive against spinal cord proteins and their biomarker potential is characterised by comparing the disease course, complications and, inflammatory and neurodegenerative profile of SCI patients that did or did not show antibody reactivity. The active contribution of these autoantibodies to the disease process is investigated using a SCI mouse model. These SCI-induced autoantibodies can be excellent biomarkers that provide information about the injury and can be correlated with disease outcome. This will improve diagnosis, prognosis and therapy decisions for SCI patients.

01 November 2020 - 31 October 2022