Autoreactive CD4+ T cells in Multiple Sclerosis

Autoreactive T cells are thought to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), which is an autoimmune disease characterized by infiltration of pathogenic immune cells in the central nervous system, resulting in demyelination in the brain and spinal cord. Using T cell library assay and class II tetramer techniques, we found increased frequencies of IFN+IL-17+GM-CSF+ producing myelin-reactive T cells in patients with MS when compared with healthy subjects. An ongoing project is to characterize the pathogenic role of self-reactive T cells from MS patients.