Advancing MS genetics research

Multi-omics research looks at different parts of cell biology, which goes beyond studying DNA alone and also investigates other biological features such as RNA, proteins, and metabolites. The MS Research Flagship’s work in this field has demonstrated far-reaching impacts, providing new insights into MS disease biology at system-level to inform development of clinically relevant MS biomarkers. As the multi-omics research lead, Dr Yuan Zhou was awarded Tasmanian Young Tall Poppy in 2023. Key advances from our team with demonstrated impact are highlighted below.

Genetic landscape of MS

The discovery of the genetic variation in LRP2 gene associated with MS relapse risk in 2017 is one of the first genetic discoveries that directly implicates non-immunological drivers of disease severity.

The team has also taken a multidisciplinary approach to examine the shared genetic architecture between MS and other diseases. This research, published in 2021, was featured by the editors at Nature Communications as one of the top 50 papers recently published in genetics, genomics and epigenetics, demonstrating the international impact of the team’s work.

Genetic-driven discovery of proteins in MS

The team has discovered 39 novel proteins that are implicated in MS. This work was featured in MS Australia’s news article 'Australian researchers discover potential MS risk proteins' (December 2022). It received a ‘Ten of the Best’ award and was recognised among the top three clinical research papers from the Menzies Institute for Medical Research in 2022. In addition, Dr Xin Lin received the best oral presentation award in 2023 for presenting this work at GeneMappers, the leading conference in complex trait genetics in Australasia.

Genetic-driven discovery of metabolites in MS

The team discovered a novel genetic causal effect of serine on MS onset and computed serine-related genetic scores that predict MS disability progression. This research was featured in the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) Research Updates Bulletin (March 2023). ECTRIMS is a large non-profit organisation and an independent representative European-wide organisation devoted to MS, which hosts the world’s largest annual International Congress in MS. It received a ‘Best of the Best’ publication award and was recognised as the top research publication from the Menzies Institute for Medical Research in 2023.