Pierre Talbot  -  Research Interest

Coronaviruses and multiple sclerosis in patients and in an animal model of MS.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most widespread neurologic disease in young adults, with a frequency of as many as 1 in 500 to 1000, especially in high-risk areas such as Canada, the northern parts of the United States and of Europe. Disease etiology is not known but is suspected to involve both genetic susceptibility and environmental triggering factors, the latter most likely viruses. It is suspected that infection by one or several common pathogen(s) before adolescence triggers MS in genetically susceptible individuals, as manifested by autoimmune reactions against antigens of the myelin sheaths surrounding nerve fibers in the central nervous system. Among the several viral candidates for induction of MS are the coronaviruses, a family of common respiratory pathogens involved in as many as 30% of common colds.

Dr. Talbot's research team has recently detected the presence of these viruses in the brains of some MS patients but not controls, determined the infectability of neural and glial cells in continuous and primary cultures by human coronaviruses, and identified a striking human coronavirus-myelin cross-reactive T cell response in MS patients but not controls. Studies in progress deal with the characterization of the neurotropism of human coronaviruses and the possibility that they can trigger autoimmune pathology through the molecular mimicry of myelin antigens.

In parallel, Dr. Talbot's team is characterizing the protective immune response to coronaviruses in a mouse model where neurotropic viral strains cause an acute encephalitis that develops into a chronic recurrent demyelinating disease that is one of the best animal model of human multiple sclerosis. Recent results have shown the feasibility of vaccination by an immunopurified protein, synthetic and biosynthetic peptides, or even anti-idiotypic antibodies and demonstrated passive protection by some monoclonal antibodies and their fragments. Mechanisms underlying these various prophylactic and therapeutic approaches are the target of current research in this area.

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