What is it about?

By integrating diverse experimental approaches, we discovered that Epstein Barr's virus, associated with some autoimmune diseases and cancers, acts with specific mechanisms as a causal factor in multiple sclerosis (MS). The specificity includes the Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 2, a viral protein that showed an allele more frequently associated with MS, which is present in the brains of the patients, and that may interact with DNA regions that put individuals at risk of MS

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Why is it important?

The etiology of multiple sclerosis remains unclear, and this work provides a significant contribution to its understanding. Moreover, the identified disease-specific role of the Epstein-Barr virus in MS development may help implement suited preventive or therapeutic strategies that do not have the off-targets of the current treatments.

Perspectives

Writing this article was a great pleasure as it has co-authors with whom I have had long standing collaborations. It also gave me the opportunity to be involved in a large network of Italian and foreign researchers who contributed to many results of great impact.

Giovanni Ristori
Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Salute Mentale, Organi di Senso (NESMOS), "Sapienza", Università di Roma

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This page is a summary of: A disease-specific convergence of host and Epstein–Barr virus genetics in multiple sclerosis, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, April 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2418783122.
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