The Journal of Immunology, 1999, 163: 6338-6344.
Copyright © 1999 by The American Association of Immunologists
Activation of Regulatory Cells Suppresses Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis Via Secretion of IL-101
Stephen A. Stohlman2,*,
,
Liong Pei*,
Daniel J. Cua§,
Zhihua Li* and
David R. Hinton
Departments of
*
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology,
Neurology, and
Pathology, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90033; and
§
DNAX Research Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Inc., Palo Alto, CA 94394
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Abstract
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Suppression of CD4+ Th1 cell-mediated autoimmune
disease via immune deviation is an attractive potential therapeutic
approach. CD4+ Th2 T cells specific for myelin basic
protein, induced by immunization of young adult male SJL mice, suppress
or modify the progression of CNS autoimmune disease. This report
demonstrates that activation of non-neuroantigen-specific Th2 cells is
sufficient to suppress both clinical and histological experimental
allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). Th2 cells were obtained following
immunization of male SJL mice with keyhole limpet hemocyanin. Transfer
of these cells did not modify EAE, a model of human multiple sclerosis,
in the absence of cognate Ag. Disease suppression was obtained
following adoptive transfer and subcutaneous immunization. Suppression
was not due to the deletion of myelin basic protein-specific T cells,
but resulted from the presence of IL-10 as demonstrated by the
inhibition of Th2-mediated EAE suppression via passive transfer with
either anti-IL-10 or anti-IL-10R mAb. These data demonstrate
that peripheral activation of a CD4+ Th2 population
specific for an Ag not expressed in the CNS modifies CNS autoimmune
disease via IL-10. These data suggest that either peripheral activation
or direct administration of IL-10 may be of benefit in treating
Th1-mediated autoimmune diseases.
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Introduction
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Experimental
allergic encephalomyelitis
(EAE)3 is a
Th1-mediated autoimmune disease of the CNS commonly used as a model for
the human autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis. Regulation of
self-reactive T cells via Th2 cytokines is an attractive method for
ameliorating Th1-mediated autoimmune diseases. However, studies
concerning the ability of either Th2 cells or their cytokines to
influence CNS autoimmune disease have yielded conflicting and often
confusing results. Consistent with increased Th2 cytokines in the CNS
during remission (1, 2), a pre-existing Th2-like
environment inhibits the active induction of EAE (3, 4).
Similarly, adoptive transfer of neuroantigen-specific Th2 cells
activated in vivo both suppressed clinical EAE and decreased CNS
inflammation (5). By contrast, proteolipid protein
(PLP)-specific Th2 cells induced in vitro by expansion in the presence
of IL-4 were not only ineffective but induced clinical signs of EAE
characterized by an eosinophilic CNS infiltration (6).
These data contrast with the suppression of EAE mediated by rIL-4, with
the secretion of IL-4 encoded by a plasmid injected directly into the
CNS (7, 8) and an increased disease severity in mice
deficient in IL-4 secretion (9). Similarly, administration
of rIL-10 has yielded conflicting results. Intravenous injection of
rIL-10 exacerbated, rather than suppressed, adoptive transfer-induced
EAE (10), whereas intraperitoneal, subcutaneous, and
intranasal administration partially inhibited actively induced EAE
(11, 12, 13). Neither the intracranial injection of plasmids
directing IL-10 secretion nor the adoptive transfer of a retrovirally
transduced myelin basic protein (MBP)-specific T cell hybridoma
expressing high constitutive levels of IL-10 inhibited EAE (8, 14). By contrast, Ag-inducible IL-10 secreted by PLP-specific T
cells suppressed EAE (15). Similarly, secretion of IL-10
either from T cells or from APCs inhibited EAE (16, 17).
The inability of IL-10 to provide consistent protection may be due in
part to inhibition by IL-4, which abrogates IL-10-mediated protection
from EAE (12).
The presence of a Th2 environment before Ag encounter in young adult
male SJL mice (3) allowed the in vivo induction and
adoptive transfer of neuroantigen-specific Th2 cells (5).
Male-derived MBP-specific Th2 cells suppressed both the acute and
relapse phases of passive EAE, induced by MBP-specific Th1 cells
derived from female SJL mice (5). However, it is not clear
whether the suppressive effects of neuroantigen-specific Th2 cells
require access into the CNS. Partial inhibition of EAE by peripheral
injection of Th2 cytokines suggests that cytokine secretion from a
peripheral site may be sufficient to reduce an organ-specific
Th1-mediated autoimmune disease. This report demonstrates that the
adoptive transfer of Th2 cells specific for keyhole limpet hemocyanin
(KLH) is not sufficient to suppress Th1-mediated disease in the absence
of in vivo-induced activation. Th2-mediated suppression did not
eliminate neuroantigen-specific Th1 cells. However, after clinical
recovery, both Th1 and Th2 cytokines are secreted in response to
neuroantigen. Furthermore, IL-10 appears to be the primary effector of
inhibition mediated by in vivo-activated Th2 cells. These data
demonstrate the efficacy of inhibiting Th1-mediated autoimmune disease
via IL-10 secretion from in vivo-activated Th2 cells.
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Materials and Methods
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Mice
SJL mice were purchased from The Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor,
ME), Harlan Sprague-Dawley (Indianapolis, IN), or the National Cancer
Institute (Frederick, MD). No differences in responses were noted
comparing mice obtained from the different vendors. Males were obtained
at 45 wk of age and used within 2 wk of receipt. Female donors were
obtained at 6 wk of age and used within 2 wk of receipt. Female
recipients were obtained at 6 wk of age and used between 7 and 10 wk of
age. Animals were housed and maintained in the University of Southern
California vivarium.
Immunization
Bovine MBP (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) was dissolved in PBS at 2
mg/ml and emulsified with an equal amount of IFA (Difco, Detroit, MI)
supplemented with 20 mg/ml of heat-killed Mycobacterium
tuberculosis, strain H37Ra (Difco). Females were immunized
with a total of 0.4 ml distributed at four sites over the flanks. Males
were immunized i.p. with 100 µg of KLH (Calbiochem, La Jolla, CA)
dissolved in 0.5 ml of PBS as previously described
(3).
Adoptive transfer and challenge
Inguinal, axillary, and brachial lymph nodes were removed and
single-cell suspensions were prepared at 10 days post-MBP immunization
or at 5 days post-KLH immunization, as previously described (3, 5). T cells from females were cultured with 50 µg/ml of MBP at
4 x 106 cells/ml. T cells from males were
cultured with 50 µg/ml of KLH at 2 x 106
cells/ml. T cells from both males and females were cultured in RPMI
1640 medium supplemented with 10% prescreened FCS, 2 mM
L-glutamine, 25 µg/ml gentamicin, nonessential amino
acids, sodium pyruvate, and 5 x 10-5 M
2-ME and harvested after 4 days incubation at 37°C. In some
experiments 35 x 107 cells were injected
i.p. In the majority of the experiments shown, 2.5 x
107 cells were injected i.v. into naive,
syngeneic female recipients. No differences were noted after either
injection route. For suppression studies, equal quantities of
KLH-specific cells were injected in addition to the MBP-specific Th1
cells (35 x 107 cells/recipient via the
i.p. route or 2.5 x 107 cells/recipient via
the i.v. route). Recipients were immunized subcutaneously immediately
after adoptive transfer with 100 µg of KLH in IFA supplemented with 5
µg/ml H37Ra (Sigma).
Clinical evaluation of EAE
Recipients were monitored daily for clinical EAE scores, graded
as follows: 0, no abnormality; 1, loss of tail tone; 2, paralysis of
one hind limb; 3, total paralysis of both hind limbs; 4, quadriplegia;
and 5, moribund. Symptomatic mice were given ready access to food and
water. Cumulative disease scores were determined from day 7 to day 15
post-adoptive transfer. Significance was determined by the Mann-Whitney
U nonparametric statistical analysis. Differences were
considered significant if p
0.05.
Ag-specific T cell proliferation
Single-cell suspensions were prepared from lymph nodes or
spleens. Cells were cultured at 8 x 105
cells/ml in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 1% SJL serum, 2 mM
L-glutamine, 25 µg/ml gentamicin, nonessential amino
acids, sodium pyruvate, and 5 x 10-5 M
2-ME. A total of 2 µCi/well [3H]thymidine
(ICN Radiochemicals, Irvine, CA) was added for the last 1624 h of
incubation of a 72-h incubation. [3H]Thymidine
incorporation was measured by liquid scintillation spectroscopy.
Cytokine secretion
Single-cell suspensions of lymph nodes or spleens were
resuspended to 4 x 106 cells/ml with 50
µg/ml of Ag in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% FCS, 2 mM
L-glutamine, 25 µg/ml gentamicin, nonessential amino
acids, sodium pyruvate, and 5 x 10-5 M
2-ME. Cells were cultured for 6072 h at 37°C and the supernatants
were tested for secreted cytokine by ELISA as per the manufacturers
instructions. Briefly, ELISA plates (Immulon II, Dynatech Laboratories,
Chantilly, VA) were coated with rat anti-mouse IL-4 (11B11),
anti-mouse IL-10 (JES5-2A5), or anti-mouse IFN-
(XMG1.2)
(PharMingen, San Diego, CA). Biotinylated anti-IL-4 (BVD6-24G),
anti-IL-10 (SXC-1), and anti-IFN-
(XMG-1.2) were purchased
from PharMingen. Avidin peroxidase and o-phenylenediamine
were obtained from Sigma.
Anti-cytokine treatment
Purified rat anti-mouse IL-10 (JES5-2A5), anti-mouse
IL-10R (1B1.2), anti-mouse IL-4 (11B11), and isotype control mAb,
anti-ß galactosidase (GL113) mAb were prepared from serum-free
culture supernatants by ion exchange chromatography and contained less
than 3 IU of endotoxin/mg Ab. The mAbs were kindly provided by Robert
Coffman (DNAX, Palo Alto, CA). Recipients were injected i.p. with 1 mg
of anti-IL-10, anti-IL-4 mAb, or isotype control mAb.
Recipients treated with anti-IL-10R received 0.5 mg i.p.
Histological evaluation
Mice were sacrificed by CO2 inhalation.
Brains and spinal cords were removed and fixed by immersion in 75%
ethanol and 25% glacial acetic acid and embedded in paraffin. Sections
(1 mm) were stained with hematoxylin-eosin or luxol fast blue and read
in a blinded fashion.
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Results
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Th2 cells do not inhibit EAE in the absence of Ag
Female, but not young adult male, SJL mice are susceptible to the
active induction of EAE following immunization with either MBP or mouse
spinal cord homogenate (18). In contrast to the induction
of Th1 cells after immunization of female SJL mice, immunization of
male SJL mice results in the preferential induction of Ag-specific Th2
cells (3, 5). MBP-specific Th2 cells derived from male
donors inhibit EAE induced via the adoptive transfer of MBP-specific
Th1 cells derived from female donors (5). To determine
whether Th2 cells reactive to an Ag not expressed in the CNS could
alter EAE, T cells derived from young adult male SJL mice immunized
with KLH were used as a source of non-neuroantigen-specific Th2 cells
(3). T cells derived from female SJL mice immunized with
MBP served as the source of Th1 cells (5). Both
populations proliferated equally to their specific Ag (Fig. 1
) and did not respond to the
heterologous Ag (data not shown). Consistent with previous results
(3, 5), T cells derived from males secreted high levels of
IL-4 and IL-10 but low amounts of IFN-
after KLH-induced activation
(Table I
). By contrast, no detectable
IL-4, low amounts of IL-10, but high concentrations of IFN-
were
secreted following MBP-induced activation of T cells derived from
females (Table I
). These data are consistent with the gender-dependent
differential induction of Th1 and Th2 cells in SJL mice after
immunization with a wide variety of protein Ag (3, 5, 18).

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FIGURE 1. Equivalent Ag-specific proliferation of donor T cells. MBP-specific
proliferation response of lymph node cells from MBP-immunized female
SJL mice and KLH-specific proliferation of lymph node cells from
KLH-immunized male SJL mice. Lymph node cells were prepared 10 days
after immunization with MBP and 5 days after immunization with
KLH.
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Th2 cells specific for MBP suppress EAE induced by MBP-specific Th1
cells in the absence of immunization with cognate Ag (5).
These data suggested that Ag presentation, T cell activation, and
subsequent cytokine secretion occurred within the CNS (5).
To determine whether Th2 cells specific for an Ag not expressed within
the CNS could also provide protection from EAE, MBP-specific Th1 cells
derived from female mice were adoptively transferred to naive female
recipients with or without an equal number of KLH-specific Th2 cells
derived from male mice. Neither the severity nor onset of EAE in mice
receiving both KLH-specific Th2 cells and MBP-specific Th1 cells (M+K
group) differed from that in controls which received MBP-specific Th1
cells only (M group; Fig. 2
A).
Immunization of the MBP Th1 cell recipients with KLH (M+I group) also
did not alter the clinical course of EAE (Fig. 2
A). These
data suggest that in the absence of cognate Ag, Th2 cells are unable to
influence MBP-specific Th1 cell-induced EAE.

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FIGURE 2. In vivo activation suppresses EAE. A, Female SJL mice
received 2.5 x 107 MBP-specific Th1 cells i.v. and
were either left untreated (M), immunized subcutaneously with 100 µg
of KLH subcutaneously (M+I), or received MBP-specific Th1 cells
(2.5 x 107) plus 2.5 x 107
KLH-specific Th2 cells i.v. (M+K). B, Female SJL mice
received 2 x 107 MBP-specific Th1 cells i.v. and were
either left untreated (M), or received MPB-specific T cells plus
2.5 x 107 KLH-specific Th2 cells, then were
subcutaneously immunized with 100 µg of KLH (M+K+I). Data present are
representative of three experiments, n =
34.
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In vivo activation suppresses EAE
To determine whether Ag deposition at a peripheral site could
induce sufficient activation to suppress CNS disease, recipients were
injected subcutaneously with KLH (M+K+I group) after adoptive transfer
of both cell populations. Recipients of both Th2 and Th1 cells
immunized with KLH were protected from EAE compared with mice which
received MBP-specific Th1 cells only (Fig. 2
B). To examine
the extent of suppression, mice were sacrificed at day 16 post-adoptive
transfer for histological analysis following resolution of the acute
phase in recipients of MBP-specific T cells only. CNS immunopathology
associated with KLH-mediated suppression demonstrated reduced
mononuclear cell infiltrates in both the brain and spinal cord compared
with recipients of MBP-specific Th1 cells only (Fig. 3
). Although demyelination was prominent
in the spinal cords of the mice which received MBP-specific Th1 cells
only (Fig. 3
), no demyelination was observed within the spinal cords of
the KLH-protected group. These findings are consistent with the reduced
clinical scores (Fig. 2
B) and with the ability of
MBP-specific Th2 cells derived from young adult male SJL mice to
suppress EAE (5).

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FIGURE 3. Histology of spinal cords associated with KLH-mediated suppression of
EAE. Mice were sacrificed at 16 days post-transfer of MBP-specific T
cells. The average clinical score of the group which received 2.5
x 107/recipient of MPB-specific T cells was 1.2 ±
0.4. The average clinical scores of the mice which had received
MBP-specific T cells and 2.5 x 107/recipient
KLH-specific T cells and then were subcutaneously immunized with 100
µg of KLH, was 0.7 ± 0.5. Tissues were fixed in 75% ethanol
and 25% glacial acetic acid and embedded in paraffin. Sections
were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (A and
C) or luxol fast blue for myelin (B).
Spinal cords of the recipients of MBP-specific T cells only show
prominent plagues of inflammation (A, outlined by
arrowheads) associated with demyelination (B, outlined
by arrowheads). Spinal cords of the recipients of both MBP- and
KLH-specific T cells which were immunized with KLH show a marked
decrease in the amount of inflammation (C, compare with
A) and no demyelination (data not shown). Magnification,
x120.
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To determine whether KLH-induced suppression was due to elimination or
altered activation of MBP-reactive T cells, proliferative T cell
responses in recipients of either MBP-specific T cells only or MBP-
plus KLH-specific T cells immunized with KLH were compared. No
difference in MBP-specific T cell proliferation responses were detected
comparing these two groups of recipients (Fig. 4
). These data suggest that the ability
of KLH-specific Th2 cells to suppress EAE was not due to elimination of
MPB-reactive T cells. Although T cells derived from the two groups
proliferated equally in response to MBP (Fig. 4
), T cells derived from
the KLH-immunized recipients, receiving both Th1 and Th2 cells,
secreted high levels of IL-4, IL-10, and IFN-
following MBP
stimulation (Table II
). By contrast, T
cells derived from the recipients of MBP-specific T cells only secreted
high levels of IFN-
and only minimal amounts of IL-4 and IL-10
(Table II
). Ag-specific IFN-
secretion was not diminished in the T
cells derived from MBP-only recipients compared with immunized
recipients of both Th1 and Th2 cells, which is consistent with
equivalent proliferative responses (Fig. 4
). By contrast, the
MBP-induced secretion of both IL-4 and IL-10 increased 3- to 4-fold in
immunized recipients of Th1 and Th2 cells compared with mice that
received MBP-specific T cells only. These data suggest that in vivo
activation of MBP-specific T cells was influenced by the presence of a
Th2 response, and that it contrasts with the absence of IL-4 secretion
from T cells derived from mice protected from EAE via the secretion of
IL-10 (17).

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FIGURE 4. Th2-mediated suppression of EAE does not eliminate MBP-reactive T
cells. Splenocytes from groups of mice which either received
MBP-specific T cells (M) or were immunized with KLH after receiving
MBP-specific T cells plus KLH-specific T cells (M+K+I) were tested for
MBP-specific proliferation.
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IL-10 secretion protects from EAE
Secretion of Th2 cytokines by MBP-specific T cells following
recovery from acute disease (Table II
) suggested that Ag-induced
cytokine secretion from the KLH-specific cells was responsible for EAE
suppression (Fig. 2
). To determine whether cytokines were indeed
responsible for EAE suppression, immunized recipients of both cell
populations were treated with anti-IL-4, anti-IL-10, or an
isotype control mAb. A single injection of anti-IL-10 mAb on the
day of adoptive transfer partially reversed the protective effects
(Fig. 5
A). This group
exhibited an onset of disease similar to that of the recipients of MBP
cells only. The clinical scores for this group exceeded those of the
group treated with the isotype control mAb. Maximum clinical scores
were significantly different from both the KLH-protected group (M+K+I)
and the group which received MBP cells only (M group)
(p
0.05), suggesting partial amelioration of
suppression. By contrast, treatment with anti-IL-4 mAb resulted in
only a small increase in clinical score (Fig. 5
A). To
confirm that in vivo activation-mediated EAE suppression via IL-10 was
not due to a generalized increase in clinical severity following IL-10
inhibition, groups of MBP-specific T cell recipients were treated with
either anti-IL-10 or the isotype control mAb on the day of adoptive
transfer. Neither mAb altered the course of EAE induced by the adoptive
transfer of MBP-specific Th1 cells (Fig. 5
B).

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FIGURE 5. Inhibition of IL-10 reverses Th2-mediated protection. Clinical scores
of groups of mice which received 2.5 x 107
MBP-specific T cells i.v. (M), or groups immunized with 100 µg KLH
following transfer of both MBP- and KLH-specific T cells (2.5 x
107) (M+K+I) are shown. Immunized recipients of both T cell
populations were treated on the day of transfer with 1 mg/recipient
anti-IL-4, anti-IL-10, or an isotype control mAb
(A). The dates represent the average clinical scores for
two experiments with a total of seven mice per group. Mice which
received MBP-specific T cells were only treated with either
anti-IL-10 or an isotype control mAb on the day of adoptive
transfer (B). The dates represent the average clinical
scores for two experiments with a total of seven mice per group. Mice
received either MBP-specific T cells only or were immunized with KLH
following transfer of equal numbers of both MBP- and KLH-specific T
cells. Immunized recipients were treated with either anti-IL-10 (1
mg/recipient) or anti-IL-10R (0.5 mg/recipient) on the day of
adoptive transfer and also 5 days later. Clinical scores were
determined daily in a blinded fashion for 7 days post-transfer
(C).
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To determine whether partial inhibition mediated by the passive
transfer of the anti-IL-10 mAb was due to incomplete IL-10
neutralization or to the participation of another mechanism(s)
(19), immunized recipients of both cell populations were
treated with either anti-IL-10 or anti-IL-10R mAb both on the
day of adoptive transfer and again at 5 days post-transfer. In contrast
to the partial protection afforded by a single anti-IL-10 injection
(Fig. 5
A), two injections of either anti-IL-10 or
anti-IL-10R mAb completely reversed the protective effect (Fig. 5
C; Table III
). Although the
mean day of onset of clinical disease in the protected group was
delayed 2 days relative to the group which received MBP-specific T
cells only, disease onset in mice treated with anti-IL-10 or
anti-IL-10R was identical to that in mice which received only the
MBP-specific T cells (Fig. 5
C; Table III
). Similarly, the
maximum clinical scores and cumulative disease scores in protected
recipients treated with either mAb regime were similar to those
recipients of MBP-specific Th1 cells only (Fig. 5
C; Table III
). In contrast to a single injection of anti-IL-10, preliminary
experiments suggest that a single injection of 500 µg of
anti-IL-10R on the day of adoptive transfer is sufficient to
reverse protection. These data indicate that peripheral activation
results in IL-10 secretion sufficient to inhibit the progression of
EAE. In contrast to immunized recipients (Fig. 3
), histological
analysis of the CNS of immunized recipients treated twice with either
anti-IL-10 or anti-IL-10R mAb revealed significant inflammation
and demyelination at day 16 post-transfer, a condition comparable to
that in control recipients receiving MBP T cells only (data not
shown).
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Discussion
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Suppression of Th1 cell-mediated autoimmune disease via in vivo
immune deviation is an attractive potential therapeutic approach.
Immune deviation is currently understood as distinct patterns of
cytokine secretion by CD4+ Th1 and Th2 cells
which mutually inhibit each others development and function (20, 21). Activation of Th1 and Th2 cells is dependent upon the
cytokine environment present during priming (20, 21). The
presence of IL-12 during priming preferentially induces Th1 cells,
whereas the presence of IL-4 results in the preferential activation of
Th2 cells. The presence of IL-4 and IL-10, which is due to concomitant
parasitic infections (22, 23, 24), altered sex hormones
(18), or genetic predisposition (25),
preferentially lead to the induction of a Th2 response. However, the
interactions between the immune system and the target organ, in this
case the CNS, have made the analysis of Th2 cytokine-mediated
inhibition of a Th1-induced autoimmune disease complex. Mice which
preferentially activate Th2 cells due to an alteration in APC activity
are resistant to active, but not to passive, EAE (18).
Consistent with these data, the induction of a Th2 response specific
for a non-neuroantigen inhibits actively induced EAE (4).
These examples are similar to the ability of preexisting parasitic
infections to facilitate Th2 responses to heterologous Ag
(22, 23, 24). In addition, comparison of relapsing EAE and a
progressive CNS infection with Theilers virus suggested that IL-4 is
associated with EAE remissions (2). Treatment with rIL-4
suppresses the induction of EAE (7), and mice unable to
secrete IL-4 due to a targeted mutation exhibit increased clinical
signs of EAE (9). These data suggest that the ability of
Th2 responses to modify the induction of Th1 CD4+
T cells in vivo is via an IL-4-dependent mechanism
(22, 23, 24). However, cotransfer of encephalitogenic Th1
cells along with highly polarized PLP-specific Th2 cells, induced by in
vitro culture with rIL-4, did not prevent clinical symptoms of EAE and
resulted in a CNS disease characterized by eosinophil infiltration
(6). This result is not surprising in light of the recent
demonstration that adoptive transfer of an MBP-specific Th2 cell line
induced eosinophil-mediated CNS destruction in
Rag-/- mice (26). These results
suggest that both Th1 and Th2 cells are potentially pathogenic in an
environment lacking appropriate immune regulation and that high levels
of IL-4 may have adverse effects on CNS inflammation.
The adoptive transfer of IL-4- and IL-10-secreting lymph node cells
from young male SJL mice primed in vivo with MBP resulted in a
reduction of both clinical and histological EAE (5). In
this model, inhibition of EAE is associated with increased expression
of IL-10 mRNA in the CNS of protected mice (5). The
passive transfer of anti-IL-10 mAb and the analysis of mice
deficient in IL-10 secretion suggested that this cytokine is critical
in the regulation of EAE (16). Furthermore, recent
analysis of two transgenic models, one in which IL-10 secretion was
controlled by the CD2 promoter resulting in IL-10 secretion by T
cells, and one controlled by the MHC class II promoter resulting
in IL-10 secretion by APC, finds that both support previous data
demonstrating that rIL-10 has a protective effect on the progression of
EAE (16, 17).
In an attempt to resolve the relative roles of IL-4 and IL-10 in
inhibition of EAE, as well as to determine whether the activation of
Th2 cells specific for a non-neuroantigen at a peripheral site could
alter the course of EAE, Th2 cells specific for KLH were induced in
young adult male SJL mice (3, 5, 18). These T cells were
cultured in vitro and cotransferred with similarly activated
EAE-inducing neuroantigen-specific Th1 cells. In the absence of
activation by cognate Ag, Th2 cells were unable to influence the
induction, progression, or severity of EAE. These results suggested
that without in vivo activation, Th2 cells could not antagonize the
function of adoptively transferred encephalitogenic Th1 cells, even
though it has been suggested that Th1 and Th2 cells with different Ag
specificities can interact in vivo (5, 27, 28). For
example, activation of Th2 cells during parasitic infection alters the
Th1 response to heterologous Ag such as mycobacteria and viruses
(23, 24). Consistent with these data, activation of the
Th2 cells by immunization with the cognate Ag was efficient in
suppressing the Th1-mediated EAE.
The possibility of clonal deletion of MBP-specific Th1 cells was
excluded by demonstrating the retention of Ag-specific proliferation in
the KLH-protected and control groups after remission. However,
examination of the Ag-specific cytokine secretion following MBP-induced
activation showed that the MBP-specific T cells derived from the
KLH-immunized groups secreted both Th1- and Th2-type cytokines, i.e.,
high IL-4, IL-10, and IFN-
. These data contrast with the MBP-induced
secretion of the T cells derived from the control group which was
predominantly a Th1 type of cytokine profile. These data suggest that
the cytokine secretion profile by MBP-specific T cells recovered
following KLH-induced protection resulted from the in vivo activation
of KLH-specific Th2 cells, most likely via secretion of IL-4
(21). The data cannot exclude a primary effect of IL-10;
however, analysis of transgenic mice demonstrated that IL-10 can
prevent EAE in the absence of a preferential induction of Th2 cells
(17). Effector CD4+ T cells appear
to be irreversibly committed to one given type (29);
therefore, the altered cytokine secretion profile exhibited by the
MBP-specific cells in a KLH-induced Th2 cytokine environment may
reflect cytokine secretion by a mixture of the adoptively transferred
Th1 cells and in vivo-activated MBP-specific T cells derived from naive
T cells of the recipients.
Partial inhibition of the protective effect induced by transfer and in
vivo activation of the KLH-specific Th2 cells by a single injection of
anti-IL-10 suggested that activation induced a significant amount
of IL-10 or that an additional mediator was participating in EAE
suppression. However, two injections of either anti-IL-10 or
anti-IL-10R reversed protection. The possibility that another
mediator also participates in EAE suppression induced by the peripheral
activation of Th2 cells cannot be ruled out. However, the data support
the previous reports suggesting that IL-10 plays a dominant role in
suppression of EAE (17, 18). Protection required in vivo
activation of the transferred population and, interestingly, treatment
with a neutralizing anti-IL-4 mAb did not alter protection. The
inability of anti-IL-4 to prevent protection suggests that Th2 cell
proliferation is not required, implying that secretion of IL-10 is not
dependent upon continued proliferation. In addition, a number of
studies have demonstrated that IL-10 can be induced in the absence of
ongoing Th2 responses (30, 31). For example,
IL-4-deficient mice recovering from EAE had high levels of IL-10 mRNA
in the CNS (9), which correlates with the reduction of
both EAE severity (5) and disease remission
(1). Recent studies have shown that in vitro-generated
regulatory T cells (21, 32, 33) are capable of secreting
large amounts of IL-10 and/or TGF-ß, but not IL-4. This suggests the
possibility that a regulatory T cell population indeed may be the
source of IL-10. Although the mechanism of IL-10-mediated inhibition is
unclear, the loss of blood brain barrier integrity during EAE may allow
IL-10 to access the CNS. Alternatively, IL-10 may modify or prevent EAE
by inhibiting the loss of blood brain barrier integrity
(34). Both of these possibilities are consistent with the
reduced CNS inflammation associated with protection. These data provide
evidence that peripheral activation of IL-10-secreting cells can
suppress a Th1-mediated autoimmune disease via the secretion of IL-10.
Therefore, these data support the concepts that either activation of a
preexisting Th2 regulatory population or direct peripheral
administration of IL-10 may be viable approaches to ameliorate or
modify human autoimmune disease.
 |
Footnotes
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|---|
1 This work was supported by Grant NS 35058 from the National Institutes of Health and Grant RG 2431 from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. DNAX Research Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology is supported by Schering Plough Corporation. 
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Stephen A. Stohlman, University of Southern California School of Medicine, 1333 San Pablo Street, MCH 142, Los Angeles, CA 90033. E-mail address: 
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: EAE, experimental allergic encephalomyelitis; PLP, proteolipid protein; MBP, myelin basic protein; KLH, keyhole limpet hemocyanin. 
Received for publication June 23, 1999.
Accepted for publication September 21, 1999.
 |
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