Abstract
Lewis (LEW) and DA rats are highly susceptible to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced with guinea pig myelin basic protein (MBP), but respond to different epitopes. The dominant epitope for LEW rats is MBP73-86, and disease is mediated primarily by Vβ8.2 Th1 cells. DA rats lack conventional Vβ8.2 T cells and do not respond to MBP73-86. Rather, DA rats respond to the cryptic epitope MBP63-81, which is not encephalitogenic for LEW rats. Responses to these neuroantigens were investigated in (DA×LEW) F1 hybrids to determine if experimental findings in inbred rats remain valid in more genetically complex models. Surprisingly, MBP63-81, a cryptic epitope for DA rats, induced moderate-to-severe EAE in F1 hosts, whereas MBP73-86, the dominant LEW epitope, was only weakly encephalitogenic in F1 hosts. The poor clinical response to MBP73-86 appears to be a consequence of an inability to expand Vβ8.2 T cells. These results suggest that parental responses to neuroantigens are poor predictors for determining encephalitogenicity in F1 progeny.
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