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MS is a debilitating neuroinflammatory illness affecting more than 33,000 people in Australia. Currently, we do not have sensitive and specific tools to diagnose MS relapses, or to diagnose ‘inflammatory’ versus ‘progressive’ forms of the disease. The usual methods, such as clinical assessment and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are not very sensitive and may lead to incorrect or delayed diagnoses.
There is a technique called positron emission tomography (PET) that shows great promise in the field of MS. PET can measure inflammation in the brain at a cellular level, which could greatly improve the diagnosis and monitoring of MS. It can also help determine how the disease is responding to treatment.
During neuroinflammation in MS, a protein known as a purinergic receptor, P2X7R, becomes more active. Previously, Dr Mohammad Haskali and his team had demonstrated that this protein is involved in driving and sustaining MS progression. Due to its important role in neuroinflammation, P2X7R can be used as a target for imaging techniques to monitor disease activity in real time. By using PET tracers that specifically bind to P2X7R, the researchers can accurately visualise the expression and activation of P2X7R, and immune brain cells called microglia, allowing them to monitor the inflammation happening in the brain.
In this project, Dr Haskali and his team at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Victoria) focused on developing new PET tracers that target P2X7R. The ultimate goal is to improve the diagnosis of MS, monitor the effectiveness of treatments, and better manage people with MS.
Dr Haskali and his team developed six new tracers and tested them for how well they bound to P2X7R. Two of the new tracers showed great potential for use in PET imaging.
Dr Haskali is now moving forward in his research by attaching the radiolabel fluorine-18 (F-18) to these two tracers and evaluating them in laboratory models. It is the radiolabel part of a tracer that the PET detects to produce images of real-time changes in the brain.
Dr Haskali and his team are also actively seeking new funding opportunities to support their continued research. They are also preparing manuscripts for publication of their findings, which will contribute to the broader understanding of brain inflammation and potential uses of the tracers in MS research.
Developing effective new PET tracers that allow real-time monitoring of inflammation in the brain will enable monitoring of disease progression and treatment effectiveness to improve management of MS.
Updated 31 July 2024
$25,000
2023
1 year
Current project
