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Updated: May 12, 2026

Determining Immune System Suppression versus CNS Protection for Pharmacological Interventions in Autoimmune Demyelination
Published on: September 12, 2016
Virus-induced CD8+ T cells accelerate the onset of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: implications for how
Emily K Rainey-Barger1, Pennelope K Blakely, Amanda K Huber
1Department of Neurology, University of Michigan Medical School, 4007 Biomedical Sciences Research Building, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2200, United States.
Abstract:
Viral infections can exacerbate multiple sclerosis (MS) through poorly defined mechanisms. We developed an experimental system whereby infection with an asymptomatic neurotropic alphavirus caused a transient acceleration of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) without altering the expansion or differentiation of autoreactive CD4+ T cells. Instead, this effect on the clinical course of EAE depended on CD8+ T cells that neither participate in viral clearance nor induce neuropathology in infected mice without EAE. Our system should be useful to further unravel how certain viral infections trigger MS exacerbations and to understand how CD8+ T cells can exert pathogenic effects within active demyelinating lesions.
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