[Expression of the stress-response protein 60 in iritis in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis--an...

Uveitis of unknown etiology is known to occur in association with various systemic disorders. We did an immunohistochemical study on the expression of stress-response proteins (srp's) in iritis associated with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), which is regarded as a model of multiple sclerosis. EAE was induced in Lewis rats by sensitization with homogenized spinal cord of guinea pig in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) (Group EAE). For controls, we used rats sensitized with CFA only (Group CFA) and untreated rats (normal controls). All rats developed iritis in Group EAE. In Group CFA, no rats developed iritis. No expression of ubiquitin, alpha B-crystallin, srp 27, srp 60, or srp 72 was seen in the epithelium of the iris of the rats in Group CFA. In the rats in Group EAE, srp 60 was expressed in the epithelium of the iris in 20/22 (90.9%) of the eyes examined, ubiquitin in 4/22 (18.2%), and alpha B-crystallin in 3/22 (13.6%). In the untreated rats, only ubiquitin was expressed in the epithelium of the iris in 1/6 (16.7%) of the eyes examined. These results suggest that srp 60, 60 kDa srp, plays an important role in the occurrence of iritis associated with EAE.