1. Academic Validation
  2. Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-35-55 peptide induces severe chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in HLA-DR2-transgenic mice

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-35-55 peptide induces severe chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in HLA-DR2-transgenic mice

  • Eur J Immunol. 2004 May;34(5):1251-61. doi: 10.1002/eji.200324354.
Cathleen Rich 1 Jason M Link Alex Zamora Helle Jacobsen Roberto Meza-Romero Halina Offner Richard Jones Gregory G Burrows Lars Fugger Arthur A Vandenbark
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Portland, OR 97207, USA.
Abstract

The use of HLA class II-transgenic (Tg) mice has facilitated identification of antigenic T cell epitopes that may contribute to inflammation in T cell-mediated diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis (MS). In this study, we compared the encephalitogenic activity of three DR2-restricted myelin determinants [mouse (m) myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-35-55, human (h)MOG-35-55 and myelin basic protein (MBP)-87-99] in Tg mice expressing the MS-associated DR2 allele, DRB1*1501. We found that mMOG-35-55 peptide was strongly immunogenic and induced moderately severe chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) with white matter lesions after a single injection in Freund's complete adjuvant followed by pertussis toxin. hMOG-35-55 peptide,which differs from mMOG-35-55 peptide by a proline for serine substitution at position 42, was also immunogenic, but not encephalitogenic, and was only partially cross-reactive with mMOG-35-55. In contrast, MBP-87-99, which can induce EAE in double-Tg mice expressing both HLA-DR2 and a human MBP-specific TCR, was completely non-encephalitogenic in HLA-DR2-Tg mice lacking the human TCR transgene. These findings demonstrate potent encephalitogenic activity of the mMOG-35-55 peptide in association with HLA-DR2, thus providing a strong rationale for further study of hMOG-35-55 peptide as a potential pathogenic determinant in humans.

Figures