Researchers create an ‘atlas of MS brain cells’ which could help personalise MS treatment

Over 150,000 people live with MS in the UK, but many people with the progressive form of the condition don’t have access to treatments. One potential reason some treatments haven’t been successful in clinical trials, despite promising lab results, is that there's a huge diversity in how the condition affects people. And a treatment that works for one person may not work for another. 

What did the researchers do?  

Researchers at our Edinburgh Centre for MS Research worked as part of an international team to understand more about what happens in MS on a molecular level. They created an ‘atlas of MS brain cells’ using post-mortem brains – including tissue donated to the MS Society Tissue Bank. 

Using this information, researchers found they could separate people with MS into four groups, based on how their brain cells behaved.  

Anna Williams, co-lead of the MS Society Edinburgh Centre for MS Research, led the study. She told us: 

“This is such an important discovery as it tells us that we can put people with MS into subgroups according to what’s going on in the brain at a molecular level. And these subgroups might respond to therapies differently. 

“So far, we have observed these subgroups using post-mortem brain tissue. To help treat MS, we need to work out how to group people with MS using blood tests. We could then design clinical trials specifically for these subgroups, which could help us get the right drugs to the right people.” 

What does this mean for people with MS?

MS is different for everyone. Research like this could pave the way for more personalised treatment of MS. This means using information about an individual’s MS to tailor their treatment, rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach.  

Dr Clare Walton, our Head of Research, says:  

“We’re really grateful to the people with MS who donated their brains to science, and thanks to this international research effort, we are now starting to understand the biological basis for this variability. Building on these findings we can hopefully improve trials and find tailored treatments. Ultimately, it could help us move to personalised medicine – something that has revolutionised the cancer field.”