CD8 + T cells from Theiler’s virus-resistant BALB/cByJ mice downregulate pathogenic virus-specific CD4 + T cells

Abstract

Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) is a picornavirus which induces an immune-mediated demyelinating disease in susceptible strains of mice and serves as a relevant animal model for multiple sclerosis. Treatment with low dose irradiation prior to infection with the BeAn strain of TMEV renders the genetically resistant BALB/cByJ (C/cByJ) mice susceptible to disease. Previous studies have shown that disease resistance in the C/cByJ is mediated by a ‘regulatory’ CD8 + T cell population, which does not appear to function via a cytolytic mechanism. We show here that TMEV-specific CD4 + T cell blasts transferred into susceptible, irradiated C/cByJ accelerate clinical disease and enhance TMEV-specific DTH and proliferation in these animals. Significantly, CD8 + cells from infected, resistant C/cByJ mice specifically downregulate the in vivo disease potentiation and diminish virus specific DTH, and proliferative and pro-inflammatory cytokine responses (IFNγ and IL-2) in recipients of TMEV-specific CD4 + T cell blasts. These results indicate that TMEV infection of resistant C/cByJ mice induces a radiosensitive population of regulatory CD8 + T cells which actively downregulate inherent Th1 responses which have disease initiating potential.