The John L. Trotter MS Center at Washington University Medical Center serves our community of patients through the partnership of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

Ongoing Research at The John L. Trotter MS Center

Basic Research:

Dr. Cross is currently funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health. Her laboratory studies utilize an animal model for MS (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis-EAE) to study the role of B cells, plasma cells and antibodies in inflammatory demyelination of the central nervous system. Other studies involve the role of astrocytes in the regulation of CNS inflammation, endogenous immune regulatory molecules known as suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins, endogenous hormones, immune activation molecules, and mechanisms of cell death in the central nervous system.

The Neuroimmunology Fellows:

Eric Klawiter MD - 2008-2010 American Academy of Neurology Foundation Clinical Research Training Fellowship

Junqian (‘Gordon') Xu, PhD - Fellow of the National MS Society 2007-2010 "Quantification of Spinal Cord Injury via Diffusion MRI"

Recent Publications:

1. Stark J, Cross AH: Differential Expression of Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling-1 and -3 and Related Cytokines in Central Nervous System During Remitting versus Non-remitting Forms of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis. Int Immunol 2006; 18:347-353.

2. Cross AH, Ramsbottom MJ, Lyons JA: NOS2 regulates cytokine production and VLA-4 expression in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis J Neuroimmunol 2006; 173:79-86.

3. Piccio LM, Stark JL, Cross AH: Chronic Calorie Restriction Attenuates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis. J Leuk Biol 84: 940-948, 2008

4. Naismith RT, Xu J, Tutlam NT, Snyder A, Benzinger T, Shimony J, Shepherd J, Trinkaus K, Cross AH, Song SK. Disability in optic neuritis correlates with diffusion tensor-derived directional diffusivities. Neurology 2009; 72: 589-94.

5. Piccio LM, Buonsanti C, Schmidt RE, Rinker J, Panina-Bordignon P, Cella M, Colonna M, Cross AH: Identification of a novel soluble TREM-2 protein in the cerebrospinal fluid in association with central nervous system inflammation. Brain 2008; 131: 3081-3091

6. Klawiter EC, Cross AH, Naismith RT. The Present Efficacy of Multiple Sclerosis Therapeutics: Is the New 66% Just the Old 33%? Neurology 2009; 73: 984-990.

7. Dace DS, Stark JL, Kelly J, Cross AH, Apte R. Interleukin-10 Overexpression Promotes FasL-ligand-dependent Chronic Macrophage-mediated Demyelinating Polyneuropathy. PLoS ONE 4: e7121ff

8. Pitt D, Cross AH, Goldberg MH. Dysmyelinated axons in shiverer mice are highly vulnerable to alpha-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-Methylisoxazole-4-Proprionic Acid (AMPA) receptor-mediated toxicity. Brain Research (in press)

Translational Work and Clinical Trials:

The John L. Trotter MS Center is committed to translating work done in the laboratory to the Clinic. Dr. Cross directs a clinical trial that was initiated at this institution, based upon prior work in the laboratories at Washington University. The trial is currently ongoing, and studies the effect of B cells and their products on disease activity in MS patients. Patients in the study, who all have ongoing MS disease activity despite taking FDA-approved medications, are depleted of circulating B cells for 6-12 months using a highly specific chemotherapeutic agent. MS activity in the brain is monitored by MRI. The imaging results are being analyzed by Dr. Robert Naismith.

More publications from the Center that report translational work and clinical trials include:

1. Avasarala J, Cross AH, Trotter JL: Oligoclonal band number as a marker for prognosis in multiple sclerosis. Archives Neurol. 2001; 58: 2044-2045.

2. Avasarala JR, Cross AH, Clifford DB, Singer B, Siegel, Abbey EE: Rapid Onset Mitoxantrone-induced Cardiotoxicity in Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis 2003; 9:59-62.

3.Avasarala JR, Cross AH, Trinkaus K: Comparative assessment of Yale Single Question and Beck Depression Inventory Scale in screening for depression in multiple sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis 2003; 9:307-310.

4. Attarian HP, Brown KM, Duntley SP, Cross AH: The relationship of sleep disturbances to fatigue in multiple sclerosis. Arch. Neurol. 2004; 61: 535-538.

5. Naismith RT, Trinkaus K, Cross AH: Phenotype and prognosis in African-Americans with multiple sclerosis: a retrospective chart review. Multiple Sclerosis 2006; 12: 775-781.

6. Goodman AD, Cohen JA, Cross AH, Rizzo M, Vollmer T, Blight AR: Fampridine-SR in multiple sclerosis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging study. 2006 (submitted)

7. Fenoglio C, Scalabrini D, Piccio L, deRiz M, Venturelli E, Cortini F, Villa C, Serpente M, Parks BJ, Rinker J, Bresolin N, Cross AH, Scarpini E, Galimberti D. Candidate gene analysis of selectin gene cluster in patients with multiple sclerosis. J Neurology 2009 256:832-3.

8. De Jager PL, Jia X, Wang J, de Bakker PI, Ottoboni L, Aggarwal NT, Piccio L, Raychaudhuri S, Tran D, Aubin C, Briskin R, Romano S; International MS Genetics Consortium, Baranzini SE, McCauley JL, Pericak-Vance MA, Haines JL, Gibson RA, Naeglin Y, Uitdehaag B, Matthews PM, Kappos L, Polman C, McArdle WL, Strachan DP, Evans D, Cross AH, Daly MJ, Compston A, Sawcer SJ, Weiner HL, Hauser SL, Hafler DA, Oksenberg JR. Meta-analysis of genome scans and replication identify CD6, IRF8 and TNFRSF1A as new multiple sclerosis susceptibility loci. Nat. Genet. 2009; 41: 776-82.

9. Naismith RT, Shepherd BJ, Weihl CC, Tutlam NT, Cross AH. Acute and bilateral blindness due to optic neuropathy associated with copper deficiency. Arch Neurol. 2009; 66: 1025-1027.

10. Naismith RT, Tutlam N, Xu J, Klawiter EC, Shepherd, JB, Song, SK, Cross AH. Optical Coherence Tomography is Less Sensitive than Visual Evoked Potentials in Optic Neuritis Neurology 2009; 73: 46-52.

11. Piccio L, Naismith RT, Trinkaus K, Klein RS, Parks BJ, Lyons JA, Cross AH. Changes in B and T lymphocytes and chemokines with rituximab treatment in multiple sclerosis. Arch Neurol (in press)