Functional outcome of GM-CSF mediated microglial activation in the central nervous system

The introduction of immunomodulatory treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) revolutionized the clinical management of this devastating disease, but their efficacy remains limited by large numbers of non-responders and potentially serious side effects. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a protein that is attracting great interest as a novel therapeutic target for treatments designed to halt disease progression in MS. This project will investigate how GM-CSF contributes to disease development, focusing on how it promotes tissue destruction by microglial; a cell type that normally helps protect the brain and spinal cord from damage caused by viruses and other pathogens.