The v-abl tyrosine kinase negatively regulates NF-kappa B/Rel factors and blocks kappa gene transcription in pre-B lymphocytes.

Transformation of B-lineage precursors by the Abelson murine leukemia virus appears to arrest development at the pre-B stage. Abelson-transformed pre-B cell lines generally retain transcriptionally inactive, unrearranged immunoglobulin kappa alleles. We demonstrate that nontransformed pre-B cells expanded from the mouse bone marrow efficiently transcribe unrearranged kappa alleles. In addition, they contain activated complexes of the NF-kappa B/Rel transcription factor family, in contrast with their Abelson-transformed counterparts. Using conditionally transformed pre-B cell lines, we show that the v-abl viral transforming protein, a tyrosine kinase, blocks germ-line kappa gene transcription and negatively regulates NF-kappa B/Rel activity. An active v-abl kinase specifically inhibits the NF-kappa B/Rel-dependent kappa intron enhancer, which is implicated in promoting both transcription and rearrangement of the kappa locus. v-abl inhibits the activated state of NF-kappa B/Rel complexes in a pre-B cell via a post-translational mechanism that results in increased stability of the inhibitory subunit I kappa B alpha. This analysis suggests a molecular pathway by which v-abl inhibits kappa locus transcription and rearrangement.

Class II-restricted T cell responses in Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus-induced demyelinating disease. VI. Potentiation of demyelination with and characterization of an immunopathologic CD4+ T cell line specific for an immunodominant VP2 epitope.

Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV)-induced demyelinating disease is a relevant mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Demyelination is linked to persistent TMEV infection of the central nervous system and characterized by perivascular inflammatory mononuclear infiltrates and primary demyelination. Our previous results have shown that susceptibility correlates with the temporal development of chronic virus-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses and suggest that inflammatory processes mediated by T cells specific for an immunodominant determinant on virus capsid protein 2 (VP2(74-86)) play a major immunopathologic role in SJL/J mice. In this study we have further defined the T cell-dependent nature and specificity of the demyelinating process in susceptible SJL/J mice by showing that thymectomized irradiated bone marrow-restored mice fail to develop chronic demyelination and that i.v. adoptive transfer of polyclonal TMEV-specific T cells before intracerebral infection with a suboptimal dose of the BeAn strain of TMEV led to increased incidence and accelerated onset of clinical disease. The data also show that demyelination is dependent on the activity of virus-specific CD4+ T cells because in vivo depletion with anti-CD4, but not anti-CD8, mAb led to significantly diminished incidence and severity of demyelination concomitant with a decrease in TMEV-specific DTH reactivity. In addition, the adoptive transfer of a TMEV-specific, DTH-mediating CD4+ I-A(s)-restricted Th1 line (sTV1) specific for the immunodominant VP2(74-86) epitope also led to increased incidence and accelerated onset of clinical disease only in TMEV-infected recipients. Collectively, the results of this and the companion paper demonstrate the highly significant immunopathologic contribution of CD4+ T cell responses specific for an immunodominant viral epitope to the chronic central nervous system demyelination observed in TMEV-infected SJL/J mice.

Class II-restricted T cell responses in Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus-induced demyelinating disease. V. Mapping of a dominant immunopathologic VP2 T cell epitope in susceptible SJL/J mice.

Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV)-induced demyelinating disease is a relevant mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Demyelination is linked to persistent TMEV infection of the central nervous system and characterized by perivascular inflammatory mononuclear infiltrates and primary demyelination. Myelin damage is a T cell-dependent process and susceptibility correlates with the temporal development of chronic virus-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses. Our previous results have shown that inflammatory processes mediated by Th1 cells specific for a determinant(s) on virus capsid protein 2 (VP2) play a major immunopathologic role in SJL/J mice. This study identifies a 13 amino acid peptide on VP2 (VP2(74-86)) as the immunodominant T cell epitope in TMEV-infected and -immunized SJL/J mice, and demonstrates the ability of that sequence to prime for the majority of the SJL/J DTH T cell response to intact TMEV. The importance of T cell responses to this epitope in the demyelinating process was illustrated by experiments in which SJL/J mice displayed an increased incidence and accelerated onset of clinical disease after peripheral immunization with a fusion protein containing VP2(74-84) before intracerebral infection with a suboptimal dose of the BeAn strain of TMEV. Identification of this immunopathologic TMEV T cell epitope will be critically important for delineation of the mechanisms of T cell-mediated myelin damage and for potential use to prevent and/or treat TMEV-induced demyelinating disease via the induction of epitope-specific tolerance.

Class II-restricted T cell responses in Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus-induced demyelinating disease. IV. Identification of an immunodominant T cell determinant on the N-terminal end of the VP2 capsid protein in susceptible SJL/J mice.

Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV)-induced demyelinating disease serves as a relevant animal model of human multiple sclerosis. Myelin damage induced by TMEV infection appears to be immune mediated. Disease susceptibility correlates best with the temporal development of chronic, high levels of TMEV-specific, MHC class II-restricted delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses. We have proposed a model wherein these responses result in CNS demyelination via a macrophage-mediated terminal nonspecific bystander response. As virus-specific DTH responses appear to be intimately involved in the pathogenicity of CNS demyelination, it is critical to determine the specificity of these responses so that effector T cells specific for potential pathogenic epitopes can be targeted to serve as the focus of specific immunoregulatory processes. In the current study, the capsid protein specificity of the TMEV-susceptible SJL/J and TMEV-resistant C57BL/6 mouse strains was examined. DTH and Tprlf responses in both infected and immunized SJL/J mice were found to be predominantly directed toward the VP2 capsid protein, specifically to an epitope(s) contained within the N-terminal 150 amino acids of VP2. This same epitope was also found to be dominant in priming SJL/J mice for responses to challenge with intact virions. In contrast, the T cell-mediated responses of TMEV-resistant C57BL/6 mice did not show preferential reactivity towards VP2, because all three major capsid proteins (VP1, VP2, and VP3) elicited responses with essentially equal potency. The relationship of the restricted VP2 T cell epitope to predicted neutralizing antibody sites on the VP2 protein is discussed as is the potential use of this epitope for prevention and/or treatment of TMEV-induced demyelinating disease via the induction of epitope-specific tolerance.

Class II-restricted T cell responses in Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV)-induced demyelinating disease. III. Failure of neuroantigen-specific immune tolerance to affect the clinical course of demyelination.

Intracerebral inoculation of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) into susceptible mouse strains produces a chronic demyelinating disease in which mononuclear cell-rich infiltrates in the central nervous system (CNS) are prominent. Current evidence strongly supports an immune-mediated basis for myelin breakdown, with an effector role proposed for TMEV-specific, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-restricted delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses in which lymphokine-activated macrophages mediate bystander demyelination. The present study examined the possibility that concomitant or later-appearing neuroantigen-specific autoimmune T cell responses, such as those demonstrated in chronic-relapsing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (R-EAE), may contribute to the demyelinating process following TMEV infection. T cell responses against intact, purified major myelin proteins (myelin basic protein (MBP) and proteolipid protein (PLP], and against altered myelin constituents were readily demonstrable in SJL/J mice with R-EAE, but were not detectable in SJL/J mice with TMEV-induced demyelinating disease. TMEV-infected mice also did not display T cell responses against the peptide fragments of MBP(91-104) and PLP(139-151) recently shown to be encephalitogenic in SJL/J mice. In addition, induction of neuroantigen-specific tolerance to a heterogeneous mixture of CNS antigens, via the i.v. injection of syngeneic SJL/J splenocytes covalently coupled with mouse spinal cord homogenate, resulted in significant suppression of clinical and histologic signs of R-EAE and the accompanying MBP- and PLP-specific DTH responses. In contrast, neuroantigen-specific tolerance failed to alter the development of clinical and histologic signs of TMEV-induced demyelinating disease or the accompanying virus-specific DTH and humoral immune responses. These findings demonstrate that TMEV-induced demyelinating disease can occur in the apparent absence of neuroantigen-specific autoimmune responses. The relationship of the present results to the immunopathology of multiple sclerosis is discussed.