Join the Department of Molecular Genetics for a guest seminar by Christian Münz who is a professor of viral immunobiology at the Institute of Experimental Immunology at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Münz will be presenting a seminar titled “Neuroinflammation after non-neurotropic Epstein Barr virus infection.” The seminar will be hosted by EPIC member, Lori Frappier.
Abstract:
The Epstein Barr virus (EBV) establishes persistent infection in nearly all human adults. In a small subset of these, EBV is associated with lymphomas and carcinomas, as well as some autoimmune diseases. Primarily, EBV has been suggested to initiate the prodromal phase of multiple sclerosis (MS), a demyelinating autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Our studies could show that EBV infection expands T-bet+CXCR3+ memory B cells that then home to the CNS in humanized mice. These B cell subsets recruit and restimulate inflammatory lymphocyte infiltrates at submeningeal and perivascular locations in the brain. These infiltrates contain characteristics of human B and T cell subpopulations that are reminiscent of lymphocytes that can be found in post-mortem MS brains, and associated with increased neurofilament light chain (NfL) release as a prodromal marker of CNS autoimmunity. Furthermore, they activate myeloid cell populations in the CNS that correlate with oxidative demyelination. Therefore, EBV might initiate neuroinflammation by expanding a distinct B cell population that orchestrates pathogenic leucocyte infiltration into the CNS.
Date: October 19, 2026
Time: 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Location: GB199, Galbraith Building, 35 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 1A4
Registration is not required.