Inhibition of allergic encephalomyelitis in marmosets by vaccination with recombinant vaccinia virus encoding for myelin basic protein

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis as a testing paradigm for adjuvants and vaccines

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an experimental model for multiple sclerosis. EAE can be induced by inoculation with central nervous system (CNS) proteins or peptides emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant. Protection from EAE, enhancement of EAE or subclinical priming for EAE can occur as a result of either live viral infection or DNA immunization with molecular mimics of CNS proteins or peptides. Here we review the published data describing modulation of EAE through administration of various CNS proteins/peptides introduced via live virus or plasmid DNA and modulation of EAE through choice of adjuvant (immunostimulating agents).

Vaccines for multiple sclerosis: progress to date

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS, characterized pathologically by a perivascular infiltrate consisting predominantly of T cells and macrophages. Although its aetiology remains unknown, several lines of evidence support the hypothesis that autoimmune mechanisms play a major role in the development of the disease. Several widely used disease-modifying agents are approved for the treatment of MS. However, these agents are only partially effective and their ability to attenuate the more progressive phases of the disease is not clear at this time. Therefore, there is a need to develop improved treatment options for MS. This article reviews the role of several novel, selective vaccine strategies that are currently under investigation, including: (i) T-cell vaccination (TCV); (ii) T-cell receptor (TCR) peptide vaccination; (iii) DNA vaccination; and (iv) altered peptide ligand (APL) vaccination. The administration of attenuated autoreactive T cells induces regulatory networks to specifically suppress pathogenic T cells in MS, a strategy named TCV. The concept of TCV was based on the experience of vaccination against aetiological agents of infectious diseases in which individuals are purposely exposed to an attenuated microbial pathogen, which then instructs the immune system to recognize and neutralize it in its virulent form. In regard to TCV, attenuated, pathogenic T cells are similarly used to instruct the immune system to recognize and neutralize disease-inducing T cells. In experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for MS, pathogenic T cells use a strikingly limited number of variable-region elements (V region) to form TCR specific for defined autoantigens. Thus, vaccination with peptides directed against these TCR structures may induce immunoregulatory mechanisms, thereby preventing EAE. However, unlike EAE, myelin-reactive T cells derived from MS patients utilize a broad range of different V regions, challenging the clinical utility of this approach. Subsequently, the demonstration that injection of plasmid DNA encoding a reporter gene into skeletal muscle results in expression of the encoded proteins, as well as in the induction of immune responses in animal models of autoimmunity, was explored as another strategy to re-establish self-tolerance. This approach has promise for the treatment of MS and, therefore, warrants further investigation. APLs are molecules in which the native encephalitogenic peptides are modified by substitution(s) of one or a few amino acids critical for contact with the TCR. Depending on the substitution(s) at the TCR contact residues of the cognate peptide, an APL can induce immune responses that can protect against or reverse EAE. However, the heterogeneity of the immune response in MS patients requires further study to determine which patients are most likely to benefit from APL therapy. Other potential approaches for vaccines in MS include vaccination against axonal growth inhibitors associated with myelin, use of dendritic cells pulsed with specific antigens, and active vaccination against proinflammatory cytokines. Overall, vaccines for MS represent promising approaches for the treatment of this devastating disease, as well as other autoimmune diseases.

Development of a novel non-human primate model for preclinical gene vector safety studies. Determining the effects of intracerebral HSV-1 inoculation in the common marmoset: a comparative study

The owl monkey (Aotus trivirgatus) has served as the standard non-human primate model of herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) infection because it is highly susceptible to HSV-1 encephalitis. Owl monkeys, however, are expensive, difficult to obtain, and difficult to maintain in captivity, thus greatly hampering the efficiency of preclinical gene therapy trials for brain tumors using HSV-1-based vectors. We have therefore compared the susceptibility of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) with the owl monkey in a model of intracerebral inoculation of wildtype HSV-1 F-strain at increasing titers. The common marmosets consistently succumbed earlier to viral encephalitis than the owl monkeys. The histological evaluation of the common marmoset revealed extensive HSV-1 infection with a concomitant yet less marked inflammatory response compared to the owl monkeys. PCR for HSV-1 demonstrated a similar extra-CNS shedding route in both experimental models. Our findings show that the common marmoset is at least as susceptible to intracerebral HSV-infection as the owl monkey and that it can therefore serve as a valid and reliable experimental model for the important preclinical safety tests of HSV-based therapeutic viral vector constructs in the brain.

Skewed autoantibody reactivity to the extracellular domain of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein in multiple sclerosis

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) is found to induce both autoreactive T-cell and antibody responses associated with demyelinating pathology and is implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). In this study, we addressed the potential association of anti-MOG immune responses with MS by examining, comparatively, both the T-cell and antibody responses to recombinant MOG fragments in MS patients and healthy subjects. T cells recognizing MOG were detected in MS patients as well as in healthy subjects, and their precursor frequency in the blood was not increased in patients with MS. MOG-reactive T cells isolated from both MS patients and healthy subjects exhibited a similar cytokine profile, producing interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF), but not interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), and recognized predominantly the extracellular (residues 1-60) and the transmembrane/cytoplasmic (residues 154-218) domains of MOG. In contrast, anti-MOG antibodies derived from MS patients displayed a skewed reactivity pattern, even though the occurrence and titres of serum anti-MOG antibodies were only slightly elevated in MS patients. MS-derived autoantibodies were predominantly directed at the 1-60 region of MOG, while naturally occurring anti-MOG antibodies derived from healthy individuals reacted selectively to the 154-218 domain. These differences were statistically significant. The findings of this study are consistent with the presence of anti-MOG antibodies within demyelinating lesions of MS and their role in the induction of demyelinating pathology in animal models. The study has important implications in the understanding of the autoimmune processes in MS.

Enzymatic properties of rat myelencephalon-specific protease

Myelencephalon-specific protease (MSP), first identified in the rat and now known to have a human homologue (human kallikrein 6), is preferentially expressed in the central nervous system (CNS), compared with nonneural tissues. MSP has been postulated to have trypsin-like activity, is upregulated in response to glutamate receptor-mediated excitotoxic injury in the CNS, and is downregulated in the brain of Alzheimer's patients. The preferential expression of this enzyme by oligodendrocytes in CNS white matter points to a role in myelin homeostasis. To further characterize the activity and substrate specificity of this newly identified enzyme, we have heterologously expressed MSP in a baculovirus/insect cell line system. We demonstrate that recombinant MSP exhibits a broad specificity for cleavage after arginine but not lysine residues, with kinetic characteristics intermediate between trypsin and pancreatic kallikrein. We show that the pro form of MSP does not self-activate but, rather, requires cleavage after lysine, indicating that mature active MSP is regulated by a distinct protease. MSP may be regulated in part by autolysis, since the active protein is readily inactivated through autolysis at specific internal arginine positions. Additionally, we show that MSP is abundantly expressed in inflammatory cells at sites of demyelination in the Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) model of multiple sclerosis (MS). In conjunction with data demonstrating the ability of MSP to degrade myelin-associated as well as several extracellular matrix proteins, these findings delineate MSP as a broad-specificity arginine-specific protease with the potential to play a key role in immune-mediated demyelination.

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-DNA vaccination induces antibody-mediated autoaggression in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

One strategy to reestablish self tolerance in autoimmune diseases is based on the use of DNA vaccination to induce ectopic expression of the target autoantigen. We assessed the potential of vaccination with a DNA construct encoding the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), an important candidate autoantigen in multiple sclerosis, to induce tolerance and protect against experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Unexpectedly, mice vaccinated with MOG-DNA developed an exacerbated form of EAE when challenged with either MOG or an unrelated encephalitogen, myelin proteolipid protein. We demonstrate that this is due to the inability of DNA vaccination to tolerize the MOG-specific T cell response and to the concomitant induction of a cytopathic MOG-specific autoantibody response, which is pathogenic, enhancing demyelination, inflammation and disease severity. Our data suggest that tolerogenic strategies for autoimmune diseases based on DNA vaccination should be approached with caution, as the outcome is unpredictable.

Cutting Edge: Myelin Basic Protein-Specific Cytotoxic T Cell Tolerance Is Maintained In Vivo by a Single Dominant Epitope in H-2k Mice

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is believed to be an autoimmune disease mediated by T cells specific for CNS Ags. MS lesions contain both CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. The contribution of CD4+ T cells to CNS autoimmune disease has been extensively studied in an animal model of MS, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. However, little is known about the role of autoreactive CD8+ cytotoxic T cells in MS or experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. We demonstrate here that myelin basic protein (MBP) is processed in vivo by the MHC class I pathway leading to a MBP79–87/Kk complex. The recognition of this complex by MBP-specific cytotoxic T cells leads to a high degree of tolerance in vivo. This study is the first to show that the pool of self-reactive lymphocytes specific for MBP contain MHC class I-restricted T cells whose response is regulated in vivo by the induction of tolerance.