Meningeal lymphoid-like structures as secret EBV hideout in multiple sclerosis

In order to test the hypothesis that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) plays a fundamental role in multiple sclerosis (MS), by hiding in intracerebral niches, such as meningeal tertiary lymphoid-like structures (TLS) and driving intrathecal chronic inflammation, we propose to verify the presence and frequency/level of EBV-infected B cells within MS meningeal TLS in post-mortem MS cases, by using new integrative neuropathological and in situ sequencing techniques. This project will help to identify the specific cell and molecular profile of meningeal EBV-infected B cells and interacting cells in MS meningeal TLS by using spatial-omics.