The Koralnik Laboratory: Research
PML is a deadly demyelinating disease of the central nervous system caused by JC virus (JCV) in immunosuppressed individuals. JCV infects most healthy adults without causing any disease, but its reactivation leads to a productive and lytic infection of oligodendrocytes, the myelin producing cells in the central nervous system. We are currently studying the cellular immune response against JCV mediated by both CD8+ and CD4+ T lymphocytes in patients with PML, and we are characterizing genetic markers of the host associated with favorable outcome of PML. We are studying how this immune response cross-reacts with BK virus, the etiologic agent of polyomavirus nephropathy. Since there is no cure for PML, our laboratory is now developing a dendritic cell-based immunotherapy for this disease.
