Prevention and treatment of Lewis rat experimental allergic encephalomyelitis with a monoclonal antibody to the T cell receptor V beta 8.2 segment.
The predominance of T cell receptor (TCR) V beta 8.2 utilization by encephalitogenic T cells induced in Lewis rats by immunization with myelin basic protein (MBP) is controversial. Thus, both an almost exclusive usage of V beta 8.2 [Burns, F. R., Li, X., Shen, N., Offner, H., Chou, Y. K., Vandenbark, A. A. and Heber-Katz, E., J. Exp. Med. 1989, 169: 27; Chluba, J., Steeg, C., Becker, A., Wekerle, H. and Epplen, J. T., Eur. J. Immunol. 1989. 19: 279] and a quite diverse V beta composition of CD4 T cells causing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) [Sun, D., Gold, P. D., Smith, L., Brostoff, S. and Coleclough, C., Eur. J. Immunol, 1992. 22: 591; Sun, D., Le, J. and Coleclough, C., Eur. J. Immunol. 1993. 23: 494] have been reported. Using a recently developed monoclonal antibody (mAb) specific for TCR V beta 8.2, we show that postnatal treatment effectively eliminates V beta 8.2-bearing cells and prevents MBP-induced EAE in the majority of Lewis rats. Moreover, treatment of adult Lewis rats with V beta 8.2-specific mAb as late as on day 12 after MBP immunization suppressed the development of neurological symptoms. Thus, V beta 8.2-bearing cells do play a decisive role in Lewis rat EAE, and suppression of the small (5%) V beta 8.2-expressing T cell subset provides an effective therapeutic strategy.
Imrich
H
H
Institute for Virology and Immunobiology, University of Würzburg, Germany.
Kugler
C
C
Torres-Nagel
N
N
Dörries
R
R
Hünig
T
T
D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004681:Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein / Q000276:immunology; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta