title: Frequency of MBP and MBP peptide-reactive T cells in the HPRT mutant T-cell population of MS patients.
abstract: Somatic mutation as an index of in vivo T-cell amplification is a powerful tool to analyze the specificity and size of the autoreactive T-cell repertoire. Using this strategy, we determined the precursor frequency of T cells reactive to myelin basic protein (MBP) and overlapping MBP peptides spanning regions p84-168 in patients with MS and controls in the HPRT mutant T-cell population. Among 19 MS patients, nine had estimatable frequencies to MBP or MBP peptides, p93-112, p124-142 and p143-168 in the HPRT mutant T-cell population. Only one of the 10 controls showed measurable frequency to MBP in the HPRT mutant T-cell population. These studies suggest that increased frequency of T cells reactive to MBP and MBP peptides might indicate putative disease-related epitopes in MS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Lodge
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sriram
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D007041:Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009154:Mutation; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D012016:Reference Values; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D007041:Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase