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Suppressive vaccination with DNA encoding a variable region gene of the T–cell receptor prevents autoimmune encephalomyelitis and activates Th2 immunity

Nature Medicine volume 2, pages 899–905 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

A variable region gene of the T–cell receptor, Vβ8.2, is rearranged, and its product is expressed on pathogenic T cells that induce experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in H–2u mice after immunization with myelin basic protein (MBP). Vaccination of these mice with naked DNA encoding Vβ8.2 protected mice from EAE. Analysis of T cells reacting to the pathogenic portion of the MBP molecule indicated that in the vaccinated mice there was a reduction in the Thl cytokines interleukin–2 (IL–2) and interferon–γ. In parallel, there was an elevation in the production of IL–4, a Th2 cytokine associated with suppression of disease. A novel feature of DNA immunization for autoimmune disease, reversal of the autoimmune response from Thl to Th2, may make this approach attractive for treatment of Thl–mediated diseases like multiple sclerosis, juvenile diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Immunology, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel

    Ari Waisman, Pedro J. Ruiz, Avraham Gelman, Felix Mor, Irun R. Cohen & Lawrence Steinman

  2. Department of Neurobiology, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel

    David L. Hirschberg

  3. Departments of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305, USA

    David L. Hirschberg, Stefan Brocke & Lawrence Steinman

  4. Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, 94143-0114, USA

    Jorge R. Oksenberg

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Waisman, A., Ruiz, P., Hirschberg, D. et al. Suppressive vaccination with DNA encoding a variable region gene of the T–cell receptor prevents autoimmune encephalomyelitis and activates Th2 immunity. Nat Med 2, 899–905 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0896-899

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