Figure 1.

CD40 is critical for the induction of active MOG-EAE in C57BL/6 mice and T cell priming. (A) Early administration of anti-CD154 blocks the development of MOG-induced EAE. Mice were immunized with MOG_35–55 in CFA and given 350 μg/mouse of anti-CD154 mAbs three times per week starting at the time of immunization (▵). Control mice were treated with H-Ig mAbs (♦; n = 6/group). (B) CD40^−/− mice are not susceptible to MOG-induced EAE. CD40^−/− (□) and CD40^+/+ (♦) mice were immunized as described in panel A, and disease was monitored (n = 9/group). (C) Treatment of mice with anti-CD154 at disease onset ameliorated MOG-induced EAE. Mice were treated at the first sign of clinical disease with either anti-CD154 (▵) or control H-Ig (♦) (n = 9/group). (D) T cell priming to MOG is reduced in CD40^−/− mice. To assess the ability of CD40^−/− mice to prime T cells against MOG_35–55, CD40^+/+ (+/+) or CD40^−/− (−/−) mice were immunized with MOG_35–55 in CFA. LN cells were harvested after 5 d and stimulated with either no antigen, 100 μg of MOG_35–55, or irrelevant PLP peptide. (E) MOG-induced IFN-γ secretion is reduced in CD40^−/− mice. IFN-γ production from LN cells primed to MOG_35–55 in CD40^+/+ and CD40^−/− was assessed in vitro as described in D. Displayed is a representative of at least three experiments.