Association of plasma levels of Protein S with disease severity in multiple sclerosis

Abstract

The TAM family of receptor tyrosine kinases (TYRO3, AXL and MERTK) play important roles in modulating innate immune responses and central demyelination. The TAM receptor ligand Protein S (PROS) has also been shown to modulate innate immune cell responses.We assessed whether plasma levels of PROS are changed in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and whether changes are associated with disease severity.Plasma levels of total and free PROS were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in a discovery cohort (MS: 65, control: 14) and an independent replication cohort (MS: 29, control: 29). The Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS) was used to evaluate associations between plasma PROS lev..