Seminar: Understanding oxidized phosphatidylcholines as key mediators of chronic neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis

Abstract: Oxidized phosphatidylcholines (OxPC) are harmful byproducts of oxidative inflammation and tissue injury. While OxPC accumulate in brain lesions during neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), their immunological and pathological functions in the central nervous system (CNS) remains relatively unknown. We aim to close this gap of knowledge by elucidating transcriptional and functional changes in the CNS of mice challenged by OxPC, followed by validation in rapid-autopsy MS brain specimens. Our findings indicate that OxPC induces progressive MS-like pathology, and that while CNS macrophages normally help to mitigate OxPC toxicity, their neuroprotective functions are disrupted by chronic neurodegeneration and aging.