[S-39] Symposium 39
The concept of MOG-IgG positive diseases

[S-39-1] MOG-IgG assays and their clinical associations in children

^○Patrick Waters (University of Oxford, UK)

Auto-antibodies (IgG) against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) are detected in the serum of patients with various demyelinating diseases. These patients are known to show repeated clinical episodes of inflammatory demyelinating attacks in the central nervous system. Although the associated pathogenicity and mechanism of inflammatory demyelination remains inconclusive, it is known that patients with MOG-IgG have a different clinical spectrum from those with other demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis. We conducted this symposium to understand the clinical features and the spectrum of MOG-IgG related demyelinating diseases.

Patrick Waters qualified as a biochemist in 1993 and received a PhD on immunoglobulin structural modelling in 1999. Since then he has worked at the University of Oxford on CNS antibody mediated autoimmunity. His interests include the development and global standardisation of diagnostic assays for known or newly discovered CNS autoantibody targets; understanding the mode of action of pathogenic antibodies and examining role of early B cell subsets in the development of autoimmunity. He, and the University of Oxford, holds patents for the discovery of LGI1, CASPR2 and the GABA-A Receptor as targets in CNS autoimmunity. He is currently co-director of the Oxford Autoimmune Neurology Diagnostic Laboratory and has a small research team investigating the molecular details of patient derived monoclonal antibody interactions with their targets.