Spontaneous regression of primary autoreactivity during chronic progression of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis.
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Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a widely used animal model for multiple sclerosis (MS). EAE is typically initiated by CD4(+) T helper cell type 1 (Th1) autoreactivity directed against a single priming immunodominant myelin peptide determinant. Recent studies have shown that clinical progression of EAE involves the accumulation of neo-autoreactivity, commonly referred to as epitope spreading, directed against peptide determinants not involved in the priming process. This study directly addresses the relative roles of primary autoreactivity and secondary epitope spreading in the progression of both EAE and MS. To this end we serially evaluated the development of several epitope-spreading cascades in SWXJ mice primed with distinctly different encephalitogenic determinants of myelin proteolipid protein. In a series of analogous experiments, we examined the development of epitope spreading in patients with isolated monosymptomatic demyelinating syndrome as their disease progressed to clinically definite MS. Our results indicate that in both EAE and MS, primary proliferative autoreactivity associated with onset of clinical disease invariably regresses with time and is often undetectable during periods of disease progression. In contrast, the emergence of sustained secondary autoreactivity to spreading determinants is consistently associated with disease progression in both EAE and MS. Our results indicate that chronic progression of EAE and MS involves a shifting of autoreactivity from primary initiating self-determinants to defined cascades of secondary determinants that sustain the self-recognition process during disease progression. (+info)
Impairment of TNF-receptor-1 signaling but not fas signaling diminishes T-cell apoptosis in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide-induced chronic demyelinating autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice.
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T-cell apoptosis in inflammatory demyelinating lesions of chronic myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide35-55 induced autoimmune encephalomyelitis was studied in several different gene knockout mice as well as their wild-type counterparts. The gene deletions included tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha, lymphotoxin, TNF receptor 1 or 2, Fas-L, inducible nitric oxide synthase, perforin, and interleukin1beta-converting enzyme. Impairment of the TNF receptor 1 pathway led to a 50% reduction of T-cell apoptosis in the central nervous system lesions, whereas the other genetic deletions showed no significant effect. Our study thus identified the TNF receptor 1 signaling pathway as one mechanism responsible for the removal of T lymphocytes from inflammatory demyelinating lesions of the central nervous system. (+info)
Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein induces experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in the "resistant" Brown Norway rat: disease susceptibility is determined by MHC and MHC-linked effects on the B cell response.
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Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced by active immunization with the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) is an Ab-mediated, T cell-dependent autoimmune disease that replicates the inflammatory demyelinating pathology of multiple sclerosis. We report that disease susceptibility and severity are determined by MHC and MHC-linked effects on the MOG-specific B cell response that mediate severe clinical EAE in the EAE-resistant Brown Norway (BN) rat. Immunization with the extracellular domain of MOG in CFA induced fulminant clinical disease associated with widespread demyelination and with an inflammatory infiltrate containing large numbers of polymorphonuclear cells and eosinophils within 10 days of immunization. To analyze the effects of the MHC (RT1 system) we compared BN (RT1 n) rats with Lewis (LEW) (RT1 l) and two reciprocal MHC congenic strains, LEW.1N (RT1n) and BN.1L (RT1 l). This comparison revealed that disease severity and clinical course were strongly influenced by the MHC haplotype that modulated the pathogenic MOG-specific autoantibody response. The intra-MHC recombinant congenic strain LEW.1R38 demonstrated that gene loci located both within the centromeric segment of the MHC containing classical class I and class II genes and within the telomeric RT1.M region containing the MOG gene are involved in determining Ab production and disease susceptibility. This study indicates that the current T cell-centered interpretation of MHC-mediated effects on disease susceptibility must be reassessed in multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases in which autoantibody is involved in disease pathogenesis. (+info)
Activated non-neural specific T cells open the blood-brain barrier to circulating antibodies.
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Previous studies have shown that activated T cells can successfully cross endothelial barriers and will accumulate in tissue which contains their specific antigen. Myelin specific T cells (e.g. myelin basic protein specific) are recognized to play an important role in the induction of experimental autoimmune demyelinating disease of the CNS and have been shown to induce blood-brain barrier breakdown effectively. In this study we injected T cells reactive to a non-neural antigen (ovalbumin) systemically into Lewis rats and caused them to accumulate in the thoracic dorsal column by a prior injection of ovalbumin. Selected rats were given systemic demyelinating antibody, antimyelin oligodendrocyte antibody (anti-MOG antibody), to provide evidence of permeability changes to the blood-brain barrier. These animals were compared with control rats given systemic anti-P0 monoclonal antibody and to other rats given a direct micro-injection (3 microliters) of anti-MOG antibody into the thoracic dorsal column. All animals were monitored by serial neurophysiological studies and by histological examination. Direct anti-MOG antibody injection produced a focal block in conduction at the injection site and a large circumscribed area of primary demyelination with axonal preservation within the dorsal column. An even more profound conduction block and more extensive plaque-like region of demyelination were seen in animals given antigen, activated T cells and systemic antibody. However, animals given antigen and T cells without relevant antibody did not show conduction impairment or demyelination, except when very large numbers of T cells were given; such rats developed severe irreversible axonal damage. This study demonstrates the blood-brain barrier is disrupted by activated T cells of non-neural specificity and allows large plaque-like regions of demyelination to form in the presence of circulating antimyelin antibody. The relevance of this finding to multiple sclerosis is discussed. (+info)
Genetic susceptibility or resistance to autoimmune encephalomyelitis in MHC congenic mice is associated with differential production of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines.
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Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a T(h)1-type cell-mediated autoimmune disease induced by immunization with myelin proteins and mediated by CD4(+) T cells. Although susceptibility to EAE is dependent largely on MHC background, the B10.S strain is resistant to induction of EAE despite sharing the I-A(s) MHC locus with the susceptible SJL strain. Furthermore, NOD mice which spontaneously develop diabetes are susceptible to EAE induction with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) 35-55, whereas a MHC congenic strain, III, which also expresses I-A(g7) MHC haplotype does not develop diabetes and is also resistant to EAE induction. We induced EAE in these four strains of mice with MOG peptides 92-106 (for I-A(s) strains) and 35-55 (for I-A(g7) strains) in complete Freund's adjuvant. In the susceptible strains (SJL and NOD) in vitro, there are high levels of IFN-gamma production, whereas the resistant strains (B10.S or III) secreted primarily IL-4/IL-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta, and had decreased levels of IFN-gamma. When brains from susceptible and resistant mice were examined by immunohistochemical methods for cytokine expression, the brains from resistant mice showed fewer infiltrates which predominantly expressed IL-4 and IL-10 and/or TGF-beta. Brains from NOD and SJL with EAE showed mainly IL-2 and IFN-gamma positive cells. Thus, resistance to MOG induced EAE in B10.S and III mouse strains is related to non-MHC genes and is associated with an altered balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines both in lymphoid tissue and in the brain following immunization with myelin antigens. (+info)
Studies in B7-deficient mice reveal a critical role for B7 costimulation in both induction and effector phases of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
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The importance of B7 costimulation in regulating T cell expansion and peripheral tolerance suggests that it may also play a significant regulatory role in the development of autoimmune disease. It is unclear whether B7 costimulation is involved only in the expansion of autoreactive T cells in the periphery, or if it is also required for effector activation of autoreactive T cells in the target organ for mediating tissue injury and propagating autoimmune disease. In this study, the role of B7-CD28 costimulation and the relative importance of B7 costimulators for the induction and effector phases of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced by myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) peptide were examined. Wild-type, B7-1/B7-2-deficient mice, or CD28-deficient C57BL/6 mice were immunized with MOG 35-55 peptide. Mice lacking both B7-1 and B7-2 or CD28 showed no or minimal clinical signs of EAE and markedly reduced inflammatory infiltrates in the brain and spinal cord. However, mice lacking either B7-1 or B7-2 alone developed clinical and pathologic EAE that was comparable to EAE in wild-type mice, indicating overlapping functions for B7-1 and B7-2. Resistance to EAE was not due to a lack of induction of T helper type 1 (Th1) cytokines, since T cells from B7-1/B7-2(-/-) mice show reduced proliferative responses, but greater interferon gamma production compared with T cells from wild-type mice. To study the role of B7 molecules in the effector phase of the disease, MOG 35-55-specific T lines were adoptively transferred into the B7-1/B7-2(-/-) and wild-type mice. Clinical and histologic EAE were markedly reduced in B7-1/B7-2(-/-) compared with wild-type recipient mice. These results demonstrate that B7 costimulation has critical roles not only in the initial activation and expansion of MOG-reactive T cells, but also in the effector phase of encephalitogenic T cell activation within the central nervous system. (+info)
Antibodies against the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein and the myelin basic protein in multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases: a comparative study.
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In experimental animal models of multiple sclerosis demyelinating antibody responses are directed against the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG). We have investigated whether a similar antibody response is also present in multiple sclerosis patients. Using the recombinant human extracellular immunoglobulin domain of MOG (MOG-Ig) we have screened the sera and CSFs of 130 multiple sclerosis patients, 32 patients with other inflammatory neurological diseases (OIND), 30 patients with other non-inflammatory neurological diseases (ONND) and 10 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. We report that 38% of multiple sclerosis patients are seropositive for IgG antibodies to MOG-Ig compared with 28% seropositive for anti-myelin basic protein (MBP). In contrast, OIND are characterized by similar frequencies of serum IgG antibody responses to MOG-Ig (53%) and MBP (47%), whereas serum IgG responses to MOG-Ig are rare in ONND (3%) and rheumatoid arthritis (10%). Anti-MBP IgG antibodies, however, are a frequent finding in ONND (23%) and rheumatoid arthritis (60%). Our results provide clear evidence that anti-MOG-Ig antibodies are common in CNS inflammation. However, in OIND these antibody responses are transient, whereas they persist in multiple sclerosis. We demonstrate that the serum anti-MOG-Ig response is already established in early multiple sclerosis (multiple sclerosis-R0; 36%). In later multiple sclerosis stages frequencies and titres are comparable with early multiple sclerosis. In contrast, the frequency of anti-MBP antibodies is low in multiple sclerosis-R0 (12%) and increases during disease progression in relapsing-remitting (32%) and chronic progressive multiple sclerosis (40%), thus suggesting that anti-MBP responses accumulate over time. Finally we provide evidence for intrathecal synthesis of IgG antibodies to MOG-Ig in multiple sclerosis. (+info)
Multiple sclerosis: B- and T-cell responses to the extracellular domain of the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein.
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We report a comparative study of the B- and T-cell responses to the extracellular immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domain of human myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG(Igd)) in the blood of patients with multiple sclerosis and healthy controls using a bacterial recombinant human protein (rhMOG(Igd)). The frequency of anti-rhMOG(Igd)-seropositive samples, as determined by Western blotting, was significantly higher in the multiple sclerosis group (54%) than in normal random controls (excluding laboratory workers exposed to MOG) (22%; P = 0.02). In contrast, there was no difference in rhMOG(Igd)-induced proliferation indices of peripheral blood T cells between patients and controls. To characterize the rhMOG(Igd)-reactive T-cell repertoire, we isolated a panel of MOG-specific CD4(+) T-cell lines from multiple sclerosis patients and normal subjects, and these revealed a heterogeneous response with respect to epitope specificity, cytokine response, MHC (major histocompatibility complex) restriction and T-cell receptor Vbeta-chain usage. The majority of the T-cell lines recognized epitopes in the N-terminal region of MOG (amino acids 1-60). One epitope (represented by peptide 27-50) was exclusively recognized by T-cell lines from normal controls. Forty per cent of the MOG-specific T-cell lines analysed displayed a Th-2 or Th-0 cytokine profile and could therefore act as helper T cells in vivo. (+info)