Figure 1.

An overview of the ontology of a specific autoimmune interaction during multiple sclerosis (MS) dynamics. A previously activated cytotoxic T lymphocyte encounters its target, i.e., an oligodendrocyte, in the white matter portion of the brain. It recognizes, at the molecular level, the peptide/major histocompatibility complex (MHC-I) that is exposed on the surface of the oligodendrocyte. For each entity, the localization (i.e., the biological compartment in which the entities are present, in this specific case the brain) and the status (i.e., the differentiation states that an entity can own, in this specific case “activated”, that means primed) are defined. The result of the interaction is the killing of the oligodendrocyte by the cytotoxic T lymphocyte and the local release of chemokine factors. Specifically, “C kills C” means that a cell, for example, a CD8 T lymphocyte, kills a peptide/MHC-1 presenting oligodendrocyte. “C secretes M” means that a cell, in this case, an oligodendrocyte, secretes specific molecules (i.e., chemokines) that attract further activated effector immune cells.