Christine Dijkstra: unraveling disease mechanisms in multiple sclerosis
Access to the central nervous centre is tightly controlled by the blood-brain barrier. Studying breaches in the security of the brain helps Christine Dijkstra to understand the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis.
Christine Dijkstra studies the origins and development of Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, as it is widely known. In the Netherlands, one in a thousand people suffer from this autoimmune condition. Out of them, two-thirds will at one point visit the VUmc MS Center Amsterdam. This unique multidisciplinary research centre houses clinical groups like neurology, pathology and radiology, as well as the Department of Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology, of which the research group of Christine Dijkstra forms part.
People with MS suffer from a disturbed blood-brain barrier. The discovery that macrophages and not T-lymphocytes stand at the origin of this disturbance was made around 1990 within Dijkstra’s research group. In this group, fundamental research is performed on mechanisms of lesion formation in MS. Her group uses different types of models to study these mechanisms.
She shows a colourful picture of globe-shaped structures against a black background. ‘Aesthetically, these are nice images. But what’s more important: these models are very informative to us. What you see are small clumps of brain cells, consisting of different cell types. Using these in vitro models, we study how the damage to the brain tissue is caused and how demyelisation takes place. In other models, we study how the blood-brain barrier is damaged and how leukocytes are able enter the brain tissue.’
For a selected type of experiments, in vivo animal models are indicated. Dijkstra: ‘We use the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model, which is an animal model for brain inflammation. We induce an immune response in the brain, which resembles in some respects the perivascular inflammation that occurs in MS lesions. With EAE, we can for example study the effects of new treatments and compounds that are identified as promising in in vitro experiments.’
Perfect textbook example
Twenty years ago, several clinical groups started working together with more basic research groups to achieve a ‘basic to bedside’ approach for MS research at the VUmc and VU. A decade later, this resulted in the establishment of the VUmc MS Center Amsterdam (MSCA). So when in 2008, the MSCA reached its tenth year of existence, there was reason to celebrate what Dijkstra considers ‘a perfect textbook example of preclinical-clinical collaboration’. ‘The activities organised this year reflect the broad range of the MSCA. At this very moment, a symposium is being held on fatigue. My group is not involved, but it’s a very interesting topic and an important aspect of MS.’
Dijkstra explains that her group is really dedicated to unravel MS-related research questions. Still, she believes other groups at Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam might benefit from the models used for MS research. ‘Drug targeting to the central nervous system is relevant for other researchers as well. We’re happy to share our extensive models.’
