As a researcher specializing in the pathogenesis and therapy of neuroimmune diseases, my research aims to unravel the complex interactions between the immune system and the central nervous system. These diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and autoimmune encephalitis, present significant challenges in both diagnosis and treatment, and I am committed to advancing the understanding of their mechanisms and improving therapeutic strategies.

The Second Hong Kong Laureate Forum offers an exceptional platform to engage with global leaders in science and to exchange innovative ideas with fellow young researchers. I am particularly interested in the interdisciplinary discussions and workshops that will deepen my knowledge of neuroimmunology and explore new avenues for therapeutic intervention. The insights gained from interacting with experts and peers will directly inform and enrich my work on immune-mediated neurological disorders.

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a widely used animal model for studying multiple sclerosis (MS), a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Oligodendrocytes (OLs) are myelin sheath forming cells in the CNS. In our previous study, we found that the expression and chromatin accessibility of immune genes increased in OLs at the peak stage of the disease. To investigate the dynamics of OL lineage cells in EAE, in this study, we collected OL lineage cells from EAE, CFA-control and naïve-control at early, peak, and late stages. Single cell multiome ATAC + RNA sequencing was performed to explore the changes of OL lineage cells at both transcriptomic and epigenomic levels. By calculating the immune score based on immune response related genes, we identified immune OL lineage cells. Our results revealed that some MHC-I maintained at high expression levels at late stages, while majority of the MHC-I/II genes were only highly expressed at peak stage and decreased at late stage. Additionally, we filtered out differentially expressed genes and gene loci with varying chromatin accessibility among the different stages, further characterizing the changes in OL lineage cells during EAE progression.