Abstract Details

Cladribine is an orally bioavailable purine analog that is rapidly taken up by lymphocytes. It is thought to work as a disease-modifying therapy in relapse-remitting MS by depleting autoreactive T and B cells.

Investigate the T cell repertoire within relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients after treatment with cladribine.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from MS patients before and 6 months after Cladribine treatment were stained with our panel of 40 isotope-conjugated antibodies. Mass cytometry, which combines flow cytometry with mass spectrometry, was then used to analyse and phenotype T cell subsets with unparalleled depth.

Our results show that Cladribine-induced remission is associated with shifts within the T cell repertoire, particularly CD8⁺ T cells. This included an increase in CD8⁺ effector memory RA⁺ and CD8⁺ effector memory T cells, with a decrease in CD8⁺ naïve T cells.

Mass cytometry has provided us with unparalleled levels of detail to determine which T cell subsets are affected by Cladribine treatment. These studies will allow us to track efficacy and design new ways of targeting these T cells more specifically.