Dendritic cells loaded with apoptotic oligodendrocytes as a source of myelin T-cell epitopes in multiple sclerosis.
Evidence suggests that T-cell response to myelin basic protein (MBP) plays an important role in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the mechanism of generation for MBP immunogenic epitopes is unclear. A series of specific CD4(+) T-cell lines was obtained by stimulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells from MS patients with synthetic peptides spanning the entire MBP sequence. T-cell lines recognizing MBP(8-27), MBP(13-32), and MBP(23-42) peptides, whose sequences are identical for humans and rats, specifically proliferated and produced large amounts of interferon-gamma in response to autologous dendritic cells (DCs) loaded in vitro with apoptotic rat oligodendrocytes. Results suggest that MBP epitopes generated from enzymatic processing of apoptotic glial cells by DCs might be relevant to MS pathogenesis.
Meloni
Francesca
F
Andrea Cesalpino Foundation and Department of Internal Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Accapezzato
Daniele
D
Agresti
Cristina
C
Aloisi
Francesca
F
Ristori
Giovanni
G
Salvetti
Marco
M
Furlan
Roberto
R
Martino
Gianvito
G
Barnaba
Vincenzo
V
Paroli
Marino
M