Autoimmune encephalomyelitis and uveitis induced by T cell immunity to self beta-synuclein.

Abstract	Beta-synuclein is a neuronal protein that accumulates in the plaques that characterize neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. It has been proposed that immunization to peptides of plaque-forming proteins might be used therapeutically to help dissociate pathogenic plaques in the brain. We now report that immunization of Lewis rats with a peptide from beta-synuclein resulted in acute paralytic encephalomyelitis and uveitis. T cell lines and clones reactive to the peptide adoptively transferred the disease to naive rats. Immunoblotting revealed the presence of beta-synuclein in heavy myelin, indicating that the expression of beta-synuclein is not confined to neurons. These results add beta-synuclein to the roster of encephalitogenic self Ags, point out the potential danger of therapeutic autoimmunization to beta-synuclein, and alert us to the unsuspected possibility that autoimmunity to beta-synuclein might play an inflammatory role in the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration.
Authors	Felix Mor, Francisco Quintana, Avishai Mimran, Irun R Cohen
Journal	Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) (J Immunol) Vol. 170 Issue 1 Pg. 628-34 (Jan 01 2003) ISSN: 0022-1767 [Print] United States
PMID	12496452 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
Chemical References	Autoantigens Histocompatibility Antigens Class II Nerve Tissue Proteins Peptide Fragments Sncb protein, rat Synucleins beta-Synuclein
Topics	Adoptive Transfer Amino Acid Motifs (immunology) Amino Acid Sequence Animals Autoantigens (administration & dosage, immunology) Cell Line (transplantation) Clone Cells (transplantation) Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental (immunology, pathology) Female Histocompatibility Antigens Class II (administration & dosage, immunology) Immunization (methods) Injections, Subcutaneous Molecular Sequence Data Myelin Sheath (chemistry, immunology, metabolism) Nerve Tissue Proteins (administration & dosage, immunology, isolation & purification) Peptide Fragments (administration & dosage, immunology) Rats Rats, Inbred Lew Synucleins T-Lymphocyte Subsets (immunology) Th1 Cells (immunology) Uveitis (immunology, pathology) beta-Synuclein

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