Self-Reactivity and the Expression of Memory Markers
Vary Independently in MRL-Mp+/+ and MRL-Mp-lpr/lpr
Mice |
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Authors: | Lesley Smyth Michelle Howell I Nicholas Crispe |
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Institution: | 1. ICAPB, Zoology Building, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, Scotland.;2. University of Glasgow Medical School, Glasgow, Scotland.;3. Immunobiology Section, Yale Medical School, 310 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut, 06510, USA, |
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Abstract: | MRL-Mp-lpr/lpr mice contain phenotypically abnormal populations of T cells, and
exhibit an SLE-like autoimmune disease in which autoantibodies are a prominent
feature. We analyzed the phenotype and T-cell receptor Vß expression pattern in CD4+ T
cells of this mutant mouse strain to detect abnormalities that could explain the
autoimmunity. The CD4+ T cells contain two distinct abnormal populations. One of
these expresses B220 and HSA, and in these and other respects closely resembles the
accumulating CD4–CD8– population. The other expresses a high level of CD44 (Pgp-1),
and a high level of the 16A epitope of CD45, and so resembles post-activation T cells.
Both of these cell types are exclusive to MRL-Mp-lpr/lpr. We also identified V ß5- and
V ß11-positive CD4+ T cells, in both MRL-Mp-lpr/lpr and MRL-Mp-+/+ mice. We
conclude that autoimmune T cells can be detected in these mice, but that they are not the
cause of the accumulation of abnormal CD4+ and CD4–CD8–cells. |
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Keywords: | MRL lpr T-cell repertoire CD4+ cell subsets |
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