title: Isolation and growth of a cytopathic agent from multiple sclerosis brain tissue.
abstract: Although many studies support a role for viruses in multiple sclerosis (MS) etiopathology, no specific agent has been consistently associated with significant numbers of MS patients without concomitant detection in non-MS controls. Previous studies have shown the presence of viral-like structures in MS plaques, although the specificity of these structures for MS has been questioned. The present study describes the use of polyclonal antisera against feline and human brain-derived cytopathic agents and immunoaffinity chromatography to purify and partially characterize possible virus-like structures from MS brain tissue. Chromatography eluates from 4 MS brains contained pleomorphic particles up to 350 nm in diameter and tubular/filamentous-like structures approximately 10-18 nm in thickness. Inoculation of primary rat glial cell cultures with chromatography eluates from MS brain tissue resulted in a reproducible pattern of cytopathic effects in the form of multinucleation in cells identified immunocytochemically as oligodendrocytes. Antisera raised against the feline and MS-derived cytopathic agents were used to successfully immunolabel infected oligodendrocyte-like cells and syncytia and to detect a 66,000 M(r) protein on Western blots of inoculated cultures or concentrated MS brain eluates. Similar structures, cytopathic effects (CPE) and protein expression were not observed in eluates from 5 control brains or in cultures inoculated with control brain eluates. These studies demonstrate that cytopathic, virus-like structures can be isolated from MS brain tissue using antisera raised against a cytopathic agent rescued from demyelinating brain lesions in cats. The identity of this agent and its possible role in MS aetio-pathology remains unknown.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Western Australia. tony.white@ic.ac.uk
authors.forename: Anthony R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Nichole S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Dutton
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Cook
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000494:pharmacology; D015415:Biomarkers; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D002415:Cats; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D015726:Giant Cells / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000276:immunology / Q000648:ultrastructure / Q000821:virology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014771:Virion / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015415:Biomarkers