Hofstetter, H. H., K. V. Toyka, M. Tary-Lehmann, and P. V. Lehmann. 2007. Kinetics and Organ Distribution of IL-17-Producing CD4 Cells in Proteolipid Protein 139-151 Peptide-Induced Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis of SJL Mice. J. Immunol. 178:1372.

Categories: Autoimmunity

Keywords: Cytokines / Kinetics / Mice / pathology

Abstract: In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the production of proinflammatory cytokines by neuroantigen-specific T cells is thought to initiate and maintain the inflammatory autoimmune pathology. Because gene knockout strategies have shown that IFN-gamma and TNF are not essential for EAE development, there is increasing interest in establishing the role of other proinflammatory cytokines, primarily IL-17 in EAE. We used an IL-17 ELISPOT assay to track the neuroantigen-specific IL-17-producing T cells at single-cell resolution in various organs of SJL mice undergoing PLP 139-151-induced EAE. Overall, the migration patterns and population kinetics of the PLP 139-151-specific IL-17-producing CD4 cells were reminiscent of the IFN-gamma-producing cells, with the exception of IL-17 producers far outnumbering the IFN-gamma and IL-2 producers in the inflamed CNS. The selective enrichment of IL-17-producing CD4 cells in the CNS is suggestive of the pathogenic role of an independent (non-Th1) IL-17-producing proinflammatory effector T cell class in EAE.