We studied the immunological basis for the very potent encephalitogenicity of myelin/oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), a minor component of myelin in the CNS that is widely used to induce experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). For this purpose, we generated a mutant mouse lacking a functional mog gene. This MOG-deficient mouse presents no clinical or histological abnormalities, perm...

OBJECTIVE To optimize sensitivity and disease specificity of a myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody assay. METHODS Consecutive sera (n = 1,109) sent for aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibody testing were screened for MOG antibodies (Abs) by cell-based assays using either full-length human MOG (FL-MOG) or the short-length form (SL-MOG). The Abs were initially detected by Alexa Fluor goat a...

Antibodies to myelin components are routinely detected in multiple sclerosis patients. However, their presence in some control subjects has made it difficult to determine their contribution to disease pathogenesis. Immunization of C57BL/6 mice with either rat or human myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) leads to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and comparable titers of anti...

Sex determination in the hermaphrodite germ line of Caenorhabditis elegans is controlled posttranscriptionally. The switch from spermatogenesis to oogenesis relies on regulation of the fem-3 sex-determining gene via a regulatory element in the fem-3 3' untranslated region. Previous work showed that at least six mog genes are required for repression by the fem-3 3' untranslated region, and that ...

In this study we analysed the effects of prophylactic biolistic DNA vaccination with plasmids encoding the encephalitogenic protein myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) on the severity of a subsequently MOGp35-55-induced EAE and on the underlying immune response. We compared the outcome of vaccination with MOG-encoding plasmids alone or in combination with vectors encoding the regulatory c...

Although there is no evidence for a role of anti-MOG antibodies in adult MS, no information on B lymphocytes with MOG-committed BCR is available. We report here on the frequency of anti-MOG B cells forming rosettes with polystyrene beads (BBR) covalently bound to the extracellular domain of rhMOG in 38 relapsing-remitting patients (RRMS) and 50 healthy individuals (HI). We show a substantial pr...

We explored mechanisms involved in B cell self-tolerance against brain autoantigens in a double-transgenic mouse model carrying the Ig H-chain (introduced by gene replacement) and/or the L-chain kappa (conventional transgenic) of the mAb 8.18C5, specific for the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG). Previously, we demonstrated that B cells expressing solely the MOG-specific Ig H-chain diff...

Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodites make first sperm, then oocytes. By contrast, animals homozygous for any of six loss-of-function mutations in the gene mog-1 (for masculinization of the germ line) make sperm continuously and do not switch into oogenesis. Therefore, in mog-1 mutants, germ cells that normally would become oocytes are transformed into sperm. By contrast, somatic sexual fates a...

Autoantibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) are associated with autoimmune central nervous system diseases like acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). For ADEM, it is speculated that a preceding infection is the trigger of the autoimmune response, but the mechanism connecting the infection to the production of MOG antibodies remains a mystery. We reasoned that the abi...

mog-2 represents the last of the six mog genes that was short of a known gene sequence. Using a combined approach of genetic mapping and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) the mog-2 mutant allele has been identified in Spring 2006. mog-2 was identified as sap-1 (Spliceosomal Associated Protein), which is homologous of the U2A' snRNP. As a first step, the expression of the mog-2 transcript and...