PURPOSE To study the expression of stress-response proteins in the inflamed iris of rats with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). METHODS EAE was induced in Lewis rats by immunization with homogenized spinal cord of the guinea pig emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) (group EAE). Control rats included those immunized with only CFA (group CFA) and those that were untreat...

Cytokine-Ag fusion proteins represent a novel approach for induction of Ag-specific tolerance and may constitute an efficient therapy for autoimmune disease. This study addressed whether a fusion protein containing rat IFN-beta and the encephalitogenic 73-87 determinant of myelin basic protein (i.e., the neuroantigen, or NAg) could prevent or treat experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE...

IFN-γ-producing Th1 and IL-17-producing Th17 cells are the key participants in various autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis and its animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Although both of these T cell subsets are known to be regulated by specific transcription factors and cytokines, the role of microRNAs that control these two inflammatory T cell subsets and...

UV light suppresses experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a widely used animal model of MS, in mice and may be responsible for the decreased incidence of MS in equatorial regions. To test this concept further, we applied commercially available sunblock preparations to mice before exposing them to UV radiation. Surprisingly, some of the sunblock preparations blocked EAE without UV rad...

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The TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has well-described anti-inflammatory effects in models of autoimmune disease, including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In this issue of Neuron, Aktas, Smorodchenko, and colleagues present evidence that TRAIL exerts anti-inflammatory effects, but also induces neuronal apoptosis, in EAE. This report poses the therapeutic challeng...

Neuroendocrine-immune interactions are thought to be important in determining susceptibility to autoimmune disease. Animal studies have revealed that differences in susceptibility to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) are related to reactivity in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. It is known that there is a close relation between neuroendocrine parameters and behavioral chara...

multiple sclerosis (ms) is an autoimmune disease in which auto-reactive t cells react with self-antigens expressed in the central nervous system (cns). the main cause of ms is unknown. nonetheless, the most probable theory is based on molecular mimicry, which suggests that some infections can activate t cells against brain auto-antigens like myelin proteolipid protein (plp) and initiate the dis...