Figure 1. Induction of autoantibodies and proteinuria.

BALB/c mice were repeatedly injected i.p. with 25 µg SEB, 500 µg OVA or PBS every 5 d. (A) Serum IgG- and IgM-RFs, anti-galactose-deficient IgG and anti-Sm antibodies were measured using ELISA. The arbitrary unit (AU) of 1.0 is equivalent to the titer obtained from sera of prototypic autoimmune MRL/lpr mice. Data from each mouse are connected by dotted lines. (B) Adoptive transfer of splenic B, T, CD4⁺ T or CD8⁺ T cells of SEB-, OVA- or PBS-immunized BALB/c mice into naïve BALB/c mice. The recipient mice were given single i.p. injection of 25 µg SEB or 500 µg OVA 24 h after cell transfer, and autoantibodies were measured 2 weeks later. (C) Adoptive transfer of cells from OVA-immunized BALB/c mice into β₂m-deficient mice.