"The main goal of this research project - says the researcher - is to investigate the role of cellular senescence, induced by chronic inflammation, in accelerating neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis and to create a personalized in vitro model. More precisely, my research plan focuses on two well-defined objectives: I will profile the human cerebral cortex of MS patients and controls with single-cell RNA sequencing techniques to assess in detail the status and functionality of the different brain cell populations.
In the second part of the project, I will test whether the inflammatory mediators present in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis can induce cell senescence and neuronal damage in 3D cell cultures (brain spheroids) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). The data gathered from this study are expected to clarify the role of inflammation-induced early cellular senescence in accelerating neurodegenerative processes in multiple sclerosis. I also expect to be able to generate a highly personalized (patient-specific) inflammatory and neurodegenerative experimental cellular model in vitro”.