Deletion of Lymphatic PD-L1 Protects Mice From Severe Autoimmune Encephalitis

Ziyuan Wang1,2,3, Elèni Meuffels4, Christian Ashworth4

  • 1European Center for Angioscience (ECAS), Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.

Lymphatic endothelial cells at the cribriform plate and in brain-draining cervical lymph nodes express PD-L1 during autoimmune encephalitis. Unexpectedly, deletion of lymphatic PD-L1 expression ameliorates disease symptoms and is associated with increased brain infiltration of regulatory CD8+ Foxp3+ T cells.