Abstract

Down-regulatory phenomena have been described in several experimental models of tissue-specific, T-cell-mediated autoimmunity. For example, resistance to active induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) can be induced by pretreating animals with non-pathogenic inocula of autoantigen or effector cells. Moreover, animals that have recovered from one EAE episode are resistant to subsequent induction of EAE. In some models, resistance to EAE has been transferred with immune cells to naive recipients. These experiments, which were based on transfers of unseparated immune cell populations, are difficult to interpret. Immune suppression circuits are known to be complex and involve various distinct cellular subsets. To further complicate the issue, resistance to EAE can be transferred not only by suppressor cells, but also by encephalitogenic effector cells injected in 'subclinical' doses. We describe now the isolation of homogeneous T lymphocyte lines from the spleens of Lewis rats that had recovered from T-cell-mediated EAE (tEAE) caused by the MBP-specific T cell line S1. These spleen-derived T line cells express the CD8 phenotype and specifically respond to determinants on the inducing S1 line, but not to the autoantigen MBP. Furthermore, the anti-S1 cells selectively lyse the encephalitogenic S1 T line in vitro and efficiently neutralize their encephalitogenic capacity in vivo.