About the Authors

Letizia Granieri

Contributed equally to this work with: Letizia Granieri, Fabiana Marnetto

letiziagranieri@libero.it

Affiliations Clinical Neurobiology Unit, Regional Referring Multiple Sclerosis Centre (CReSM), University Hospital San Luigi Gonzaga, Orbassano, Turin, Italy, Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO), University of Turin, Orbassano, Turin, Italy

Fabiana Marnetto

Contributed equally to this work with: Letizia Granieri, Fabiana Marnetto

Affiliations Clinical Neurobiology Unit, Regional Referring Multiple Sclerosis Centre (CReSM), University Hospital San Luigi Gonzaga, Orbassano, Turin, Italy, Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO), University of Turin, Orbassano, Turin, Italy

Paola Valentino

Affiliations Clinical Neurobiology Unit, Regional Referring Multiple Sclerosis Centre (CReSM), University Hospital San Luigi Gonzaga, Orbassano, Turin, Italy, Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO), University of Turin, Orbassano, Turin, Italy

Jessica Frau

Affiliation Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Department of Cardiovascular and Neurological Science, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

Agata Katia Patanella

Affiliation Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Department of Neuroscience, Gemelli Hospital, Rome, Italy

Petra Nytrova

Affiliation Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience, General University Hospital in Prague and First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

Patrizia Sola

Affiliation Multiple Sclerosis Centre, S. Agostino Estense Hospital, Modena, Italy

Marco Capobianco

Affiliation Clinical Neurobiology Unit, Regional Referring Multiple Sclerosis Centre (CReSM), University Hospital San Luigi Gonzaga, Orbassano, Turin, Italy

Sven Jarius

Affiliation Division of Molecular Neuroimmunology, Department of Neurology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

Antonio Bertolotto

Affiliations Clinical Neurobiology Unit, Regional Referring Multiple Sclerosis Centre (CReSM), University Hospital San Luigi Gonzaga, Orbassano, Turin, Italy, Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO), University of Turin, Orbassano, Turin, Italy

Competing Interests

LG and PV received a contribution for attending a scientific meeting from Euroimmun, Luebeck, Germany. PN received a contribution for a fellowship in Oxford by Euroimmun, Luebeck, Germany. LG, FM and PV received consultation fees from Biogen Idec and Merck Serono. MC received consultation fees from Biogen Idec, Merck Serono and Novartis. AB has been on steering committees in clinical trials sponsored by Biogen Idec, Roche, and has received speaker honoraria from Biogen Idec, Merck Serono, TEVA, Bayer Schering, Sanofi-aventis, and Novartis; and his institution has received grant support from Biogen Idec, Bayer Schering, Merck Serono and Sanofi-Aventis. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors. The other authors have no financial links with Euroimmun, and they have no competing financial interests.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: LG, FM, PV, AB. Performed the experiments: LG FM. Analyzed the data: LG FM PV. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: JF AKP PS PN MC. Wrote the paper: LG FM SJ AB.