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. 1997 Feb;150(2):445–453.

Encephalitogenic potential of myelin basic protein-specific T cells isolated from normal rhesus macaques.

E MeinL 1, R M Hoch 1, K Dornmair 1, R de Waal Malefyt 1, R E Bontrop 1, M Jonker 1, H Lassmann 1, R Hohlfeld 1, H Wekerle 1, B A 't Hart 1
PMCID: PMC1858287  PMID: 9033260

Abstract

Myelin basic protein (MBP)-specific T cells are implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis and are targets of selective immunotherapies. However, autoantigen-specific T cells can also be isolated from healthy individuals. Their functional potential is unknown and obviously cannot be tested in humans. We approached this question in a closely related primate species, the rhesus monkey. CD4+ T cell lines specific for MBP were isolated from normal rhesus monkeys using the same primary limiting dilution technique that is now widely used to generate human autoreactive T cell clones in vitro. Three different epitopes were recognized by three rhesus T cell lines isolated from three different monkeys. Upon activation, all lines produced interferon-gamma, interleukin-2, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor but neither interleukin-4 nor transforming growth factor-beta. The MBP-specific T cells were injected intravenously without adjuvant into the nonirradiated autologous monkey. One of the three rhesus monkeys developed an encephalomyelitis with a pleocytosis in the spinal fluid and perivascular infiltrates in the leptomeninges, spinal nerve roots and cerebral cortex. The data demonstrate that the normal immune repertoire of a primate species contains MBP-specific CD4+ T cells that are able to induce an autoimmune encephalomyelitis upon transfer into the nonirradiated autologous recipient.

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Selected References

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