EAE Case Study

Background

Our partner company is developing JAK3 inhibitors with the target to treat autoimmune diseases like MS (Multiple Sclerosis). They performed an in vivo study in mice showing signs of EAE (Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis), triggered by vaccination of mice with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG). They wanted to see if their JAK3 inhibiting drug candidates in preclinical development show beneficial reactivity against the number of MOG-specific immune cells.

Solution

FluoroSpot was chosen to multiplex for different cytokines in parallel. This assay is beneficial when only few cells are available. Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) was used as antigen in FluoroSpot to challenge isolated splenocytes from treated mice to secrete cytokines of interest for the purpose of quantification.

Outcome

For some lead candidates a clear and expected change in number of cytokine releasing splenocytes was shown. For example, for TNFα a clear decrease and on the other hand for IL-10 a clear increase of the number of splenocytes was shown. Those quantitative data enable to select lead candidates for further preclinical development towards clinics.