The Journal of Experimental Medicine
Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc.
  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF, 212K)
Right arrow PPT slides of all figures
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new content in the JEM
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kerschensteiner, M.
Right arrow Articles by Hohlfeld, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kerschensteiner, M.
Right arrow Articles by Hohlfeld, R.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
*Substance via MeSH
Medline Plus Health Information
*Brain Diseases
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?
© The Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007/1999/3/865/ $5.00
The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Volume 189, Number 5, March 1, 1999 865-870

Brief Definitive Reports

Activated Human T Cells, B Cells, and Monocytes Produce Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor In Vitro and in Inflammatory Brain Lesions: A Neuroprotective Role of Inflammation?

Martin Kerschensteiner*, Eike Gallmeier*, Lüder Behrens*, Vivian Vargas Leal*, Thomas Misgeld*, Wolfgang E.F. Klinkert*, Roland Kolbeck{ddagger}, Edmund Hoppe{ddagger}, Rosa-Laura Oropeza-Wekerle§, Ilse Bartke||, Christine Stadelmann, Hans Lassmann, Hartmut Wekerle*, and Reinhard Hohlfeld*,**

From the * Department of Neuroimmunology and the {ddagger} Department of Neurobiochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany; the § Division of Environmental Dermatology and Allergy, Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit (GSF) and Technical University Munich, D-80802 Munich, Germany; || Boehringer-Mannheim, D-82372 Penzberg, Germany; the Institute of Neurology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; and the ** Institute for Clinical Neuroimmunology and Department of Neurology, Ludwig Maximilians University, D-81366 Munich, Germany

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has potent effects on neuronal survival and plasticity during development and after injury. In the nervous system, neurons are considered the major cellular source of BDNF. We demonstrate here that in addition, activated human T cells, B cells, and monocytes secrete bioactive BDNF in vitro. Notably, in T helper (Th)1- and Th2-type CD4+ T cell lines specific for myelin autoantigens such as myelin basic protein or myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein, BDNF production is increased upon antigen stimulation. The BDNF secreted by immune cells is bioactive, as it supports neuronal survival in vitro. Using anti-BDNF monoclonal antibody and polyclonal antiserum, BDNF immunoreactivity is demonstrable in inflammatory infiltrates in the brain of patients with acute disseminated encephalitis and multiple sclerosis. The results raise the possibility that in the nervous system, inflammatory infiltrates have a neuroprotective effect, which may limit the success of nonselective immunotherapies.

Key Words: neurotrophic factors • multiple sclerosis • autoimmunity • immunosuppressive therapy • neurodegeneration

Address correspondence to Reinhard Hohlfeld, Department of Neuroimmunology, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology, Am Klopferspitz 18A, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany. Phone: 49-89-7095-4780; Fax: 49-89-7095-4782; E-mail: hohlfeld{at}neuro.mpg.de

The Institute for Clinical Neuroimmunology is supported by the Hermann und Lilly Schilling-Foundation and Max Planck-Society. This project was further supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 217, C13), Hertie-Stiftung (GHS 339/95), and European Community (BMH4-CT96-0893: Immunoregulatory aspects of T cell autoimmunity in multiple sclerosis). R.L. Oropeza-Wekerle was supported by GSF FE-72121 and the Klinik and Poliklinik für Dermatologie and Allergologie, Technical University of Munich. This study is part of the M.D. theses of M. Kerschensteiner and E. Gallmeier.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?




  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search
TABLE OF CONTENTS