The Wistar Kyoto (RT1 l) rat is resistant to myelin basic protein-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: comparison with the susceptible Lewis (RT1 l) strain with regard to the MBP-directed CD4 + T cell repertoire and its regulation

Abstract

Here, we demonstrate that the Wistar Kyoto (WKY/NHsd) rat, which bears the same RT1 l haplotype as the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)-susceptible Lewis rat strain, is highly resistant to myelin basic protein (MBP)-induced EAE. No differences between Lewis and WKY strains were found in T cell proliferative specificity or the use of Vβ8.2 T cell receptors in response to MBP. A Th2 cytokine bias correlated with WKY's EAE resistance. MBP challenge of WKY-into-Lewis adoptive transfer recipients produced a novel biepisodic EAE. The WKY strain should be useful in studies of many tissue-specific autoimmune diseases to which the Lewis rat is susceptible.