Commentary: Sorting the wheat from the chaff: identifying demyelinating components of the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-specific autoantibody repertoire.
Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) is the only myelin protein known to initiate a demyelinating autoantibody response in EAE, an animal model for multiple sclerosis (MS). The pathophysiological significance of MOG-specific autoantibodies in MS is, however, controversial, as high titer antibody responses to MOG are also found in many patients with non-demyelinating neurological diseases. In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology, von Büdingen et al. demonstrate that demyelination in a primate model of MOG-induced EAE is mediated by MOG-specific antibodies directed against discontinuous, rather than linear, MOG epitopes. This functional segregation of pathogenic vs. non-pathogenic autoantibodies in terms of epitope specificity may be crucial to understand the relevance of MOG-specific responses in human disease. This commentary discusses these findings in the context of the structure and immunobiology of MOG, and their implications with respect to antibody-mediated demyelination in MS.
Mathey
Emily
E
University of Aberdeen, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Institute of Medical Sciences, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, Scotland, GB.
Breithaupt
Constanze
C
Schubart
Anna S
AS
Linington
Christopher
C
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D002144:Callithrix; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004681:Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000276:immunology; D009185:Myelin Proteins; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D018992:Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D063308:Myelin-Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
D001323:Autoantibodies; D000939:Epitopes; C571326:MOG protein, human; D009185:Myelin Proteins; D018992:Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein; D063308:Myelin-Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein