Myelin basic protein-reactive T cells persist in an inactive state in the bone marrow of Lewis rats that have

Taba Kheradmand1, Norbert A Wolf, Robert H Swanborg

  • 1Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.

Journal of Neuroimmunology
|February 13, 2009
PubMed

Lewis rats immunized with guinea pig myelin basic protein residues 68-86 develop acute experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and recover. The predominant T cell receptor expressed by the encephalitogenic T cells is TCRBV8S2. They persist in bone marrow many weeks after recovery. CD3 is down-regulated, but >90% express CD4. They fail to proliferate to GPMBP68-86 unless a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor is added to the cultures. Perhaps these are memory T cells that are maintained in a suppressed state in BM by a nitric oxide-dependent mechanism.