Shared Human T Cell Receptor V_β Usage to Immunodominant Regions of Myelin Basic Protein
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) may be an autoimmune disease mediated by T cells specific for a myelin protein. Investigations have demonstrated myelin basic protein (MBP)reactive T cells that were activated in vivo in MS patients, suggesting that MBP may be a target antigen in MS. The variable (V) region of the T cell receptor (TCR) β chain was examined among 83 T cell lines from both MS patients and healthy subjects that were reactive with the immunodominant region of human MBP (residues 84 to 102) or with a second immunodominant region of MBP (143 to 168). V_β17 and to a lesser extent V_β12 were frequently used in recognition of MBP(84-102) among different individuals. In contrast, V_βI7 was very infrequent among lines reactive with MBP(I43-168). These data demonstrate shared TCR V_β gene usage for the recognition of immunodominant regions of the human autoantigen MBP. Such TCR structures may be used as targets for specific immunotherapy in MS.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- May 1990
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.1693015
- Bibcode:
- 1990Sci...248.1016W