title: Autoimmune T cells protect neurons from secondary degeneration after central nervous system axotomy.
abstract: Autoimmunity to antigens of the central nervous system is usually considered detrimental. T cells specific to a central nervous system self antigen, such as myelin basic protein, can indeed induce experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, but such T cells may nevertheless appear in the blood of healthy individuals. We show here that autoimmune T cells specific to myelin basic protein can protect injured central nervous system neurons from secondary degeneration. After a partial crush injury of the optic nerve, rats injected with activated anti-myelin basic protein T cells retained approximately 300% more retinal ganglion cells with functionally intact axons than did rats injected with activated T cells specific for other antigens. Electrophysiological analysis confirmed this finding and suggested that the neuroprotection could result from a transient reduction in energy requirements owing to a transient reduction in nerve activity. These findings indicate that T-cell autoimmunity in the central nervous system, under certain circumstances, can exert a beneficial effect by protecting injured neurons from the spread of damage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moalem
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leibowitz-Amit
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yoles
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mor
authors.forename: I R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwartz
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015551:Autoimmunity / Q000276:immunology*; D019771:Axotomy; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000276:immunology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein / Q000276:immunology; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009474:Neurons; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000166:cytology; D020221:Optic Nerve Injuries; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D004676:Myelin Basic Protein