1. IL-6 blockade inhibits the induction of myelin antigen-specific Th17 cells and Th1 cells in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
- Author
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Serada, Satoshi, Fujimoto, Minoru, Mihara, Masahiko, Koike, Nobuo, Ohsugi, Yoshiyuki, Nomura, Shintaro, Yoshida, Hiroto, Nishikawa, Teppei, Terabe, Fumitaka, Ohkawara, Tomoharu, Takahashi, Tsuyoshi, Ripley, Barry, Kimura, Akihiro, Kishimoto, Tadamitsu, and Naka, Tetsuji
- Subjects
Encephalomyelitis -- Physiological aspects ,Autoimmunity -- Observations ,Multiple sclerosis -- Physiological aspects ,T cells -- Properties ,Science and technology - Abstract
The development of Th17 cells is a key event in the pathogenesis of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a murine model of human multiple sclerosis (MS). Previous studies have demonstrated that an IL-6-dependent pathway is involved in the differentiation of Th17 cells from naive CD4-positive T cells in vitro. However, the role of IL-6 in vivo in the development of Th17 cells in EAE has remained unclear. In the present study, we found that IL-6 blockade by treatment with an anti-lL-6 receptor monoclonal antibody (anti-IL-6R mAb) inhibited the development of EAE and inhibited the induction of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) peptide-specific CD4-positive, CD8-positive, and Th17 T cells, in inguinal lymph nodes. Thus, the protective effect of IL-6 blockade in EAE is likely to be mediated via the inhibition of the development of MOG-peptide-specific Th17 cells and Th1 cells, which in turn leads to reduced infiltration of T cells into the CNS. These findings indicate that anti-IL-6R mAb treatment might represent a novel therapy for human MS. autoimmunity | multiple sclerosis | T cells
- Published
- 2008