The Journal of Immunology, 1999, 163: 1115-1118.
Copyright © 1999 by The American Association of Immunologists
Cutting Edge: Myelin Basic Protein-Specific Cytotoxic T Cell Tolerance Is Maintained In Vivo by a Single Dominant Epitope in H-2k Mice1
Eric S. Huseby*,
Claes Öhlén* and
Joan Goverman2,*,
*
Departments of Immunology and
Molecular Biotechnology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
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Abstract
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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 MBP7987/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.
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Introduction
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The
ability to activate autoreactive T cells in the periphery of healthy
animals in models of autoimmune disease demonstrates that central and
peripheral tolerance is incomplete. This is illustrated in experimental
autoimmune encephalomyelitis
(EAE),3 an animal
model of multiple sclerosis (MS) (1) that is induced by
immunization with myelin basic protein (MBP) or by adoptive transfer of
activated, MBP-specific T cells into naive recipients
(2, 3, 4, 5). Although MS lesions contain both
CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes
(6), studies of EAE focus on the role of
CD4+ T cells. Thus, little is known about the
role of autoreactive CD8+ cytotoxic T cells in
the development and manifestation of EAE.
Previous studies suggested that CD8+ T cells
might participate as effector or regulatory cells in EAE
(7, 8, 9, 10). The existence of MHC class I-restricted T cells
specific for naturally processed MBP in vivo has not been demonstrated,
although human CD8+ T cells specific for a
peptide of MBP have been isolated in vitro (11). These
issues motivated us to study the MHC class I-restricted immune response
to MBP and examine the potential role of endogenous MBP in shaping the
CTL repertoire specific for this Ag.
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Materials and Methods
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Mice
C3HeB/FeJ and C3HeB/FeJ-MBPshi/+ were
purchased from The Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME).
MBPshi/+ and MBPshi/shi
(MBP-/-) mice (12, 13, 14) were
identified by PCR (15) and whole body tremor.
Construction of a recombinant adenovirus expressing MBP
An E1 inserted, Ad5 recombinant adenovirus expressing MBP
(Ad/MBP) was generated by inserting the plasmid pXCJL.1 containing an
MBP cDNA (16) into an E1-deficient Ad5 adenovirus pJM17
(17, 18). In addition, a L929 cell line expressing MBP
(L/MBP) was generated using the expression vector pcDNA3.1 (Invitrogen,
Carlsbad, CA) containing the MBP cDNA (16). Expression of
MBP mRNA was detected in cells infected with Ad/MBP and L/MBP cells by
RT-PCR (19). A recombinant vaccinia virus expressing MBP
(Vac/MBP) (20), was obtained from Therion Biologics
(Cambridge, MA).
Synthetic peptides
Peptides were synthesized using TBOC chemistry on a model 430A
peptide synthesizer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA). The peptides
were purified by reverse-phase HPLC, and all peptides were analyzed for
purity by mass spectrometry.
Infection of mice and generation of MBP-specific T cell lines and
clones
Mice were infected with 107 pfu Ad/MBP
virus i.p. or 106 pfu Vac/MBP i.v. After 3 wk
infection, immunized mice were harvested and 3 x 107
splenocytes were stimulated in vitro in 10-ml cultures with 1 x
106 irradiated target cells in RPMI 1640 media supplemented
with 10% FCS. All procedures have been approved by the animal care
committee at the University of Washington.
51Cr release assays
Target cells were infected with virus at a multiplicity of
infection of 10 and incubated for 72 h for adenovirus and 12
h for vaccinia virus in growth media before labeling with chromium.
Target cells were then incubated with 100 µCi of
(51Cr)O4 (Amersham,
Arlington Heights, IL) for 60 min, washed, and incubated with effector
cells in a standard 4-h 51Cr release assay. The
percent lysis was calculated as (51Cr release in
the presence of CTLs spontaneous 51Cr release)
x 100/(total 51Cr release in 2% Nonidet P-40
spontaneous 51Cr release).
Mapping of MBP epitopes and MHC restriction allele
MBP-specific T cell lines and clones were tested in
51Cr release assays with L cells pulsed for
18 h with 30 µM overlapping 20- to 23-mer synthetic peptides in
RPMI to allow processing of suboptimal peptides before chromium
labeling. The 9-mer peptides were preloaded to L cells, RMA-S cells,
and RMA-S-Kk (kindly provided by Dr. Peter
Cresswell, Yale University, New Haven, CT) at known dilutions for 30
min before the addition of effector cells.
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Results and Discussion
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MBP-specific cytotoxic T cells are generated in vivo
C3H MBP-/- and
MBP+/+ mice were infected i.p. with Ad/MBP.
Splenocytes from infected mice were harvested and stimulated in vitro
for 5 days with L/MBP. The stimulated splenocytes were then tested for
their ability to lyse syngeneic target cells expressing MBP. From 14 of
16 MBP-/-mice, MBP-specific killing was
observed. In contrast, no MBP-specific killing by T cells from
wild-type mice was observed (0 of 15 mice; data not shown).
Because adenovirus has a restricted tropism, a second protocol was used
to assess MBP-specific cytotoxic T cell responses. Splenocytes from
mice infected with Vac/MBP were stimulated in vitro with irradiated L
cells infected with Vac/MBP. From all MBP+/+ and
MBP-/- mice, a potent vaccinia-specific T cell
response was generated. In contrast, an MBP-specific cytotoxic T cell
response was generated only in MBP-/- mice (13
of 13) but not in MBP+/+ mice (0 of 15) (Fig. 1
, A and B).

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FIGURE 1. MBP-specific CTL responses are generated in MBP-/- but
not MBP+/+ mice. C3H MBP-/-
(A) and C3H MBP+/+ (B) mice
were i.v. infected with 106 pfu Vac/MBP. Spleens were
removed after 3 wk and stimulated in vitro with irradiated L cells
infected with Vac/MBP. B gal, galactosidase.
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MBP7987 (DENPVVHFF) is the core MBP-specific CTL
epitope
Twenty-one MBP-specific T cell clones were established from three
MBP-/- mice after one in vitro stimulation by
limiting dilution cloning. All clones were of the 
TCR+, CD8+ lineage (data
not shown). The fine specificity of three MBP-specific T cell clones
was determined using target cells pulsed with a panel of overlapping
peptides comprising the entire MBP protein. All three clones
specifically lysed target cells pulsed with
MBP6891 but no other peptides (Fig. 2
A). The remaining 18 T cell
clones were tested and specifically lysed target cells presenting this
peptide (data not shown).

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FIGURE 2. MBP-specific T cell lines and clones were used to define MHC class I
epitopes within MBP. (A) T cell clones were used at an
E:T ratio of 10:1, and (B) primary T cell lines derived
from MBP-/- and MBP+/+ mice were used at an
E:T ratio of 50:1 in a 51Cr release assay. This experiment
was performed twice with three MBP clones and two MBP-/-
and MBP+/+ mice in each group. B gal,
galactosidase.
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To assure that the exclusive specificity of the T cell clones for
MBP6891 was representative of all CTLs specific
for MBP, T cell lines derived from MBP+/+ and
MBP-/- mice after one in vitro stimulation were
tested for their ability to lyse target cells coated with the panel of
overlapping MBP peptides. Only T cells derived from
MBP-/- mice were able to specifically lyse
MBP-expressing targets. The MBP-specific response was directed solely
at targets coated with MBP6891, indicating that
the dominant MBP epitope is contained in this region. (Fig. 2
B).
To identify the core 9-mer epitope that is targeted by MBP-specific
CTLs, we first evaluated the sequence within
MBP6891 for an H-2k class
I binding motif (21). The overlapping 9-mer peptides
MBP7886, MBP7987, and
MBP8088 were tested. All MBP-specific CTL
clones recognized target cells coated with the
MBP7987 peptide epitope in a dose-dependant
manner (Fig. 3
, and data not shown).
These results indicate that MBP7987 represents
the naturally processed MBP-specific CTL epitope in C3H mice.

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FIGURE 3. The MBP-specific CTL epitope is defined by MBP7987.
MBP-specific T cell clones were tested in a 51Cr release
assay with target cells pulsed with the overlapping 9-mer peptides
MBP7886, MBP7987, and MBP8088
at an E:T ratio of 10:1. Four independent T cell clones recognized only
MBP7987 in a dose-dependant manner; two representative T
cell clones are shown (open symbols, filled symbols). This experiment
was performed four times.
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MBP-specific CTLs are restricted by the MHC class I allele
H-2Kk
To identify the MHC allele that presents
MBP7987 to CD8+ cytotoxic
T cells, Con A blasts from the B10 MHC congenic strains B10.A(4R),
B10.MBR, and C3H were used as target cells. The results suggested that
the MBP7987 peptide is presented by the MHC
class I allele Kk (data not shown). To confirm
this result, we tested the ability of RMA-S cells and RMA-S cells
transfected with Kk to present the MBP epitope.
RMA-S-Kk cells were able to present the MBP
epitope, while untransfected RMA-S cells were not (Fig. 4
).

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FIGURE 4. MBP7987 is presented by H-2Kk. L, RMA-S, and
RMA-S cells transfected with H-2Kk pulsed with
MBP7987 were used as targets for MBP-specific T cell
clones at an E:T ratio of 10:1. These experiments were performed three
times.
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MBP-specific T cells are tolerized in the periphery of wild-type
mice
The results described above demonstrate that MBP-specific, MHC
class I-restricted cytotoxic T cells are present in the periphery of
MBP-deficient mice and that these T cells undergo tolerance in
wild-type mice that express endogenous MBP. These observations raised
the question of where tolerance to MHC class I epitopes of MBP occurs
in vivo. To address this issue, we used two independent protocols to
assess whether peripheral mechanisms are responsible for tolerance of
MBP-specific CTLs. Results are shown in Table I
. In the first experiment, MBP-specific
T cells (group 1) and vaccinia-specific T cells (group 2) were
transferred into SCID mice to test for retention of Ag-specific
responses. 51Cr release assays were performed
with the T cell lines just before transfer to confirm their CTL
activity and the recipient SCID mice were bled 1 wk after transfer to
assure survival of T cells after transfer (data not shown). After 4 wk,
spleens from recipient mice were harvested and tested in CTL assays.
Vaccinia-specific T cells were easily detected in recipients of
vaccinia-specific T cells. In contrast, MBP-specific CTL activity was
not detected in any recipients of MBP-specific CTLs. In a separate
approach, we asked whether naive peripheral T cells from
MBP-/- mice that have not been exposed to MBP
would undergo tolerance when transferred into the periphery of
MBP+/+ mice. SCID mice were reconstituted with
naive lymphocytes isolated from MBP-/- (group
3) and MBP+/+ (group 4) mice. The mice were bled
1 wk after transfer to assure that the lymphocytes had reconstituted
all mice equally. Four weeks after reconstitution, mice were infected
with either Ad/MBP or Vac/MBP. Potent vaccinia-specific responses were
generated in mice that received either MBP-/-
or MBP+/+ lymphocytes when Vac/MBP was used both
as the immunogen and to restimulate the T cells in vitro. We attempted
to generate MBP-specific CTL responses by immunizing the mice with
either Ad/MBP or Vac/MBP. However, no responses were detected in SCID
mice reconstituted with lymphocytes from either
MBP-/- or MBP+/+. Control
MBP-/- mice (group 5) but not
MBP+/+ mice (group 6) infected and restimulated
using these protocols at the same time as the recipient mice generated
MBP-specific CTL responses. Therefore, although these data do not
exclude a role for central tolerance mechanisms, they indicate that
peripheral mechanisms eliminate functional MBP-specific CTL responses
from mice expressing endogenous MBP.
Tolerance in MBP-specific CTLs could be maintained in wild-type mice by
encountering the MBP7987 epitope in the
periphery. The MBP gene locus is complex and contains at least two
additional promoters 5' of the classical promoter, which transcribe a
unique family of gene products termed golli-MBP (19, 22, 23). These genes are encoded by a combination of exons from
classical MBP as well as exons 5' of classical MBP. Transcripts and
protein expression of the golli-MBP isoforms, which contain the
MBP7987 epitope, have been found outside of the
nervous system in both lymphoid tissue and in major organs (19, 22, 23, 24).
Recently, it has been demonstrated that some MHC class II-restricted T
cells specific for MBP are also efficiently tolerized in wild-type mice
(15, 25). The tolerogenic CD4+ T
cell epitopes of MBP in H-2u mice have not been
found in any of the golli-MBP protein. Therefore, immune tolerance in
MHC class II-restricted T cells can be mediated by endogenous
expression of classical MBP. Because of differences in tissue
distribution and MHC class, it is possible that MHC class I- and class
II-restricted T cells specific for MBP undergo tolerance via different
mechanisms.
The studies reported here describe a model system in which MHC class
I-restricted T cells specific for MBP can be generated and analyzed for
their contribution to autoimmune disease. The identification of
naturally occurring MHC class I-restricted epitopes allows monitoring
of MBP-specific CTL responses during the course of disease. Therefore,
the ability of MBP-specific CTLs to be activated by (or contribute to)
determinant spreading can be investigated (26, 27, 28). This
model system provides a novel approach to define the role of CNS
Ag-specific CD8+ CTLs in the pathogenesis of
autoimmune disease.
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Acknowledgments
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We thank Priya Gopaul for technical assistance and Dr. Mark Kay for
technical assistance with adenovirus construction.
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Footnotes
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1 This work was supported by a grant from the Royalty Research Fund of the University of Washington. J.G. is supported in part by a Harry Weaver Junior Faculty Award (2080-A-2) from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. E.S.H. is supported by a Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health (CA09537-13). 
2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Joan Goverman, Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Box 357650, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. E-mail address: 
3 Abbreviations used in this paper: EAE, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; MS, multiple sclerosis; MBP, myelin basic protein; Ad/MBP, adenovirus expressing MBP; L/MBP, L929 cell line expressing MBP; Vac/MBP, vaccinia virus expressing MBP. 
Received for publication April 6, 1999.
Accepted for publication June 1, 1999.
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