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Axons are injured by antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells through a MHC class I- and granzyme B-dependent mechanism.

ABSTRACT: Axon injury is a central determinant of irreversible neurological deficit and disease progression in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). CD8(+) lymphocytes (CTLs) within inflammatory demyelinated MS lesions correlate with acute axon injury and neurological deficits. The mechanisms of these correlations are unknown. We interrogated CTL-mediated axon injury using the transgenic OT-I antigen-specific CTL model system in conjunction with a chambered cortical neuron culture platform that permitted the isolated manipulation of axons independent of neuron cell bodies and glia. Interferon gamma upregulated, through a dose dependent mechanism, the axonal expression of functional major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) molecules competent to present immunologically-relevant antigens derived from endogenously expressed proteins. Antigen-specific CTLs formed cytotoxic immune synapses with and directly injured axons expressing antigen-loaded MHC I molecules. CTL-mediated axon injury was mechanistically dependent upon axonal MHC I antigen presentation, T cell receptor specificity and axoplasmic granzyme B activity. Despite extensive distal CTL-mediated axon injury, acute neuron cell body apoptosis was not observed. These findings present a novel model of immune-mediated axon injury and offer anti-axonal CTLs and granzyme B as targets for the therapeutic protection of axons and prevention of neurological deficits in MS patients.

SUBMITTER: Sauer BM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3788647 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Axons are injured by antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells through a MHC class I- and granzyme B-dependent mechanism.

Sauer Brian M BM Schmalstieg William F WF Howe Charles L CL

Neurobiology of disease 20130727

Axon injury is a central determinant of irreversible neurological deficit and disease progression in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). CD8(+) lymphocytes (CTLs) within inflammatory demyelinated MS lesions correlate with acute axon injury and neurological deficits. The mechanisms of these correlations are unknown. We interrogated CTL-mediated axon injury using the transgenic OT-I antigen-specific CTL model system in conjunction with a chambered cortical neuron culture platform that permitted ...[more]

PMID: 23899663

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Project description:Following infection of the central nervous system (CNS), the immune system is faced with the challenge of eliminating the pathogen without causing significant damage to neurons, which have limited capacities of renewal. In particular, it was thought that neurons were protected from direct attack by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) because they do not express major histocompatibility class I (MHC I) molecules, at least at steady state. To date, most of our current knowledge on the specifics of neuron-CTL interaction is based on studies artificially inducing MHC I expression on neurons, loading them with exogenous peptide and applying CTL clones or lines often differentiated in culture. Thus, much remains to be uncovered regarding the modalities of the interaction between infected neurons and antiviral CD8 T cells in the course of a natural disease. Here, we used the model of neuroinflammation caused by neurotropic Borna disease virus (BDV), in which virus-specific CTL have been demonstrated as the main immune effectors triggering disease. We tested the pathogenic properties of brain-isolated CD8 T cells against pure neuronal cultures infected with BDV. We observed that BDV infection of cortical neurons triggered a significant up regulation of MHC I molecules, rendering them susceptible to recognition by antiviral CTL, freshly isolated from the brains of acutely infected rats. Using real-time imaging, we analyzed the spatio-temporal relationships between neurons and CTL. Brain-isolated CTL exhibited a reduced mobility and established stable contacts with BDV-infected neurons, in an antigen- and MHC-dependent manner. This interaction induced rapid morphological changes of the neurons, without immediate killing or impairment of electrical activity. Early signs of neuronal apoptosis were detected only hours after this initial contact. Thus, our results show that infected neurons can be recognized efficiently by brain-isolated antiviral CD8 T cells and uncover the unusual modalities of CTL-induced neuronal damage.

Dataset Information

Axons are injured by antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells through a MHC class I- and granzyme B-dependent mechanism.

Publications

Axons are injured by antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells through a MHC class I- and granzyme B-dependent mechanism.

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