The Journal of Experimental Medicine
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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007/1998/7/169/ $5.00
The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Volume 188, Number 1, July 1, 1998 169-180

Articles

B Lymphocytes Producing Demyelinating Autoantibodies: Development and Function in Gene-targeted Transgenic Mice

Tobias Litzenburger*, Reinhard Fässler{ddagger}, Jan Bauer§, Hans Lassmann§, Christopher Linington*, Hartmut Wekerle*, and Antonio Iglesias*

From the * Max-Planck-Institut für Neurobiologie, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany; the {ddagger} Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany; and the § Institute of Neurology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria

We studied the cellular basis of self tolerance of B cells specific for brain autoantigens using transgenic mice engineered to produce high titers of autoantibodies against the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), a surface component of central nervous system myelin. We generated "knock-in" mice by replacing the germline JH locus with the rearranged immunoglobulin (Ig) H chain variable (V) gene of a pathogenic MOG-specific monoclonal antibody. In the transgenic mice, conventional B cells reach normal numbers in bone marrow and periphery and express exclusively transgenic H chains, resulting in high titers of MOG-specific serum Igs. Additionally, about one third of transgenic B cells bind MOG, thus demonstrating the absence of active tolerization. Furthermore, peritoneal B-1 lymphocytes are strongly depleted. Upon immunization with MOG, the mature transgenic B cell population undergoes normal differentiation to plasma cells secreting MOG-specific IgG antibodies, during which both Ig isotype switching and somatic mutation occur. In naive transgenic mice, the presence of this substantial autoreactive B cell population is benign, and the mice fail to develop either spontaneous neurological disease or pathological evidence of demyelination. However, the presence of the transgene both accelerates and exacerbates experimental autoimmune encephalitis, irrespective of the identity of the initial autoimmune insult.

Key Words: B cell tolerance • gene targeting • autoantibodies • experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis • myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein

Address correspondence to Antonio Iglesias, Department of Neuroimmunology, Max-Planck-Institute for Neurobiology, Am Klopferspitz 18A, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany. Phone: 49-89-85783591; Fax: 49-89-85783790; E-mail: iglesias{at}neuro.mpg.de

C. Linington holds a Hermann and Lilly Schilling Stiftung Professorship. R. Fässler is supported by a grant from the Swedish Medical Research Council.

R. Fässler's present address is Department of Experimental Pathology, Lund University, S-22185 LUND, Sweden.

1 Abbreviations used in this paper: AP, alkaline phosphatase; BBB, blood– brain barrier; CNS, central nervous system; EAE, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; ES, embryonic stem; MOG, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein; PLP, proteolipid protein; r, recombinant; R/S ratio, ratio of replacement to silent mutations.


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