A suppressor T-lymphocyte cell line for autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Abstract

Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a model for the in vitro and in vivo study of T-cell activation. It is an autoimmune disease mediated by T lymphocytes of the helper T-cell (T_h) subset^1,2. After sensitization to guinea-pig myelin basic protein in complete Freund's adjuvant, Lewis rats develop an autoimmune response to central nervous system (CNS) myelin basic protein, manifested clinically as paralysis and histologically by a perivas-cular mononuclear cell infiltrate of the CNS parenchyma. Suppressor cell regulation of EAE has long been suspected because Lewis rats, which spontaneously recover from active disease, are resistant to reinduction of active EAE, even though effector T-cell lines can be rescued from these recovered rats³. Using cyclosporin A, an immunosuppressive agent believed to inhibit T_h cell function, suppressor T-cell (T_s) lines have now been generated from recovered Lewis rats. These T_s cells, when admixed with guinea pig myelin basic protein-specific T_h cells, will prevent the adoptive transfer of EAE. The T_s cells appear to be CD4⁺, which explains previous observations that CD8⁺ lymphocytes are not important in the recovery of EAE in the rat. This is the first direct demonstration of T_s-cell regulation of EAE.