OBJECTIVE To determine the antigenic determinants and specific molecular requirements for the generation of autoregulatory neuroantigen-specific CD8(+) T cells in models of multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS We have previously shown that MOG35-55-specific CD8(+) T cells suppress experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in the C57BL/6 model. In this study, we utilized multiple models of E...

Mice deficient in interleukin (IL)-2 production or the IL-2 receptor alpha or beta chains develop a lethal autoimmune syndrome. CD4(+) regulatory T cells have been shown to prevent autoimmune diseases, allograft rejection, and to down-regulate antibody responses against foreign antigens. To assess the role of IL-2 in the generation and function of regulatory T cells, we transferred CD4(+) T cel...

The effect of gangliosides on the clinical expression of experimental allergic neuritis (EAN), a PNS counterpart of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), was tested in Lewis rats sensitized with bovine intradural root myelin in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). A mixture of bovine brain gangliosides (GM1, GD1a, GD1b, GT1b) was injected intramuscularly at a daily dose of 20 mg per kg be...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the mode of action of methotrexate (MTX) in different types of models for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS Models for RA and MS were selected known to have different pathogenesis--that is, fibroblast induced arthritis in SCID mice, collagen induced arthritis (CIA), anticollagen II antibody induced arthritis (CAIA), and experimental autoim...

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a progressive autoimmune inflammatory and demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). T cells play a key role in the progression of neuroinflammation in MS and also in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) animal models for the disease. A technology for quantitative and 3 dimensional (3D) spatial assessment of inflammation in this and othe...

BACKGROUND In other neurological diseases, the failure to translate pre-clinical findings to effective clinical treatments has been partially attributed to bias introduced by shortcomings in the design of animal experiments. OBJECTIVES Here we evaluate published studies of interventions in animal models of multiple sclerosis for methodological design and quality and to identify candidate inte...

Development of effective therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) is dependent on the advancement of improved tools for evaluation of progression of this disease in animal models. We present a novel technique utilizing scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for imaging wet biological specimens thus enabling rapid and high-resolution imaging of myelin in mouse spinal cord (SC). We demonstrate the advan...

To understand the mechanism of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune demyelinating disease, the researchers developed an experimental animal model for MS, which is called EAE (Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis). There are several methods for inducing this animal model. In this research the active EAE, which is developed by injecting bovine myelin antigens into genetically susceptibl...

A single peripheral dose of CNS-binding IgMs promote remyelination and preserve axons in a number of animal models of neurologic disease. A myelin-binding recombinant human IgM (rHIgM22) is presently in a safety trial in MS patients following an acute MS exacerbation. rHIgM22 (directed against oligodendrocytes) or rHIgM12 (directed against neurons) were administered to mice with MOG-induced exp...