Multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) are neurodegenerative diseases with characteristic inflammatory demyelination in the central nervous system, including the optic nerve. Neuronal and axonal damage is considered to be the main cause of long-term disability in patients with MS. Neuronal loss, including retinal ganglion cell (RGC) apoptosi...

BACKGROUND IL-17/IL-23 axis plays an important role in the pathogenesis of several autoimmune diseases such as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and multiple sclerosis (MS). The immunomodulatory properties of ginger are reported in previous studies. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of ginger extract on the expression of IL-17 and IL-23 in a model of EAE. METHODS EAE was induc...

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis, has long been thought to be mediated by Th1 CD4(+) T cells. Using adoptive transfer techniques, transfer of CNS specific Th1 T cells was sufficient to induce EAE in naive mice. However, recent studies found a vital role for IL-17 in induction of EAE. These studies suggested that a fraction of IL-17-producing...

The role of focal brain damage as a trigger for autoimmune inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS) is unclear. In this study we examine mechanisms by which experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is enhanced by focal brain damage. EAE was produced in Lewis rats by footpad inoculation; focal brain damage, in the form of a cortical cryolesion (cryolesion-EAE), was induced 8 days post-inoc...

Inflammation leads to induction of tissue stress conditions that might contribute to the generation of mechanisms limiting ongoing immune responses. We have shown previously that peptides derived from brain tissue of mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) complexed with the chaperone heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70-pc) induce an NK-cell-dependent tolerance for subsequent EAE sen...

Pannexin1 (Panx1) is a plasma membrane channel permeable to relatively large molecules, such as ATP. In the central nervous system (CNS) Panx1 is found in neurons and glia and in the immune system in macrophages and T-cells. We tested the hypothesis that Panx1-mediated ATP release contributes to expression of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for multiple sclerosi...

BACKGROUND Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the best available model of multiple sclerosis, can be induced in different animal strains using immunization with central nervous system antigens. EAE is associated with inflammation and demyelination of the nervous system. Micro-array can be used to investigate gene expression and biological pathways that are altered during disease. ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Erythropoietin (Epo), originally recognized for its central role in erythropoiesis, has been shown to improve the outcomes in patients with various neurological disorders. The aim of this study was to elucidate the Epo expression pattern in the spinal cords of Lewis rats with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and to assess the systemic effect of Epo during t...

The production of a characteristic intestinal histopathology called attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions by enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a major characteristic of EPEC pathogenesis. We previously identified a chromosomal gene (eae) of EPEC necessary for the production of A/E lesions on human tissue culture cells. Using antiserum raised to an Eae-PhoA fusion protein, we found that...

CD24 is a cell surface glycoprotein that is expressed on both immune cells and cells of the CNS. We have previously shown that CD24 is required for the induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an experimental model for the human disease multiple sclerosis (MS). The development of EAE requires CD24 expression on both T cells and non-T host cells in the CNS. To understand the...