Abstract
The blood–brain barrier (BBB) serves as a border limiting access of immunoglobulins from the circulation into the brain. This becomes relevant when studying the pathogenesis of antibody-mediated autoimmune CNS disorders. Here, we characterized the BBB dysfunction in a model of mild experimental adoptive transfer autoimmune encephalomyelitis (AT-EAE). We show that large molecules can readily penetrate the BBB between days 3 and 7 after EAE-induction. This model may be valuable for studying putative pathogenic effects of immunoglobulins in the central nervous system.
References
Dash AK, Elmquist WF (2003) Separation methods that are capable of revealing blood–brain barrier permeability. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci 797:241–254
Fabis MJ, Scott GS, Kean RB, Koprowski H, Hooper DC (2007) Loss of blood–brain barrier integrity in the spinal cord is common to experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in knockout mouse models. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:5656–5661
Gold R, Giegerich G, Hartung HP, Toyka KV (1995) T-cell receptor (TCR) usage in Lewis rat experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: TCR beta-chain-variable-region V beta 8.2-positive T cells are not essential for induction and course of disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 92:5850–5854
Kunkel-Bagden E, Dai HN, Bregman BS (1993) Methods to assess the development and recovery of locomotor function after spinal cord injury in rats. Exp Neurol 119:153–164
Lassmann H, Brunner C, Bradl M, Linington C (1988) Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis: the balance between encephalitogenic T lymphocytes and demyelinating antibodies determines size and structure of demyelinated lesions. Acta Neuropathol 75:566–576
Moos T, Mollgard K (1993) Cerebrovascular permeability to azo dyes and plasma proteins in rodents of different ages. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 19:120–127
Morgan L, Shah B, Rivers LE, Barden L, Groom AJ, Chung R, Higazi D, Desmond H, Smith T, Staddon JM (2007) Inflammation and dephosphorylation of the tight junction protein occluding in an experimental model of multiple sclerosis. Neuroscience 147:664–673
Rapoport SI (2000) Osmotic opening of the blood–brain barrier: principles, mechanism, and therapeutic applications. Cell Mol Neurobiol 20:217–230
Seitz RJ, Heininger K, Schwendemann G, Toyka KV (1986) Application of the avidin-biotin-system for post-embedding cytochemical demonstration of a biotin-labelled tracer. J Cytochem Histochem 34:547–549
Sommer C, Weishaupt A, Brinkhoff J, Biko L, Wessig C, Gold R, Toyka KV (2005) Paraneoplastic stiff-person syndrome: passive transfer to rats by means of IgG antibodies to amphiphysin. Lancet 365:1406–1411
Weishaupt A, Jander S, Bruck W, Kuhlmann T, Stienekemeier M, Hartung T, Toyka KV, Stoll G, Gold R (2000) Molecular mechanisms of high-dose antigen therapy in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: rapid induction of Th1-type cytokines and inducible nitric oxide synthase. J Immunol 165:7157–7163
Weishaupt A, Kreiss M, Gold R, Herrmann T (2004) Modulation of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by administration of cells expressing antigenic peptide covalently linked to MHC class II. J Neuroimmunol 152:11–19
Wolman M, Klatzo I, Chui E, Wilmes F, Nishimoto K, Fujiwara K, Spatz M (1981) Evaluation of the dye-protein tracers in pathophysiology of the blood–brain barrier. Acta Neuropathol 54:55–61
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Lydia Biko, Helga Brünner, Barbara Dekant, Verena Wörtmann and Susanne Hellmig for expert technical assistance. This work was supported by research funds of the University of Würzburg (Interdiziplinäres Zentrum für klinische Forschung, IZKF, TP A 45) and by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 581, TP A7).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Boettger, M.K., Weishaupt, A., Geis, C. et al. Mild experimental autoimmune encephalitis as a tool to induce blood–brain barrier dysfunction. J Neural Transm 117, 165–169 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-009-0342-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-009-0342-6