| First Author | Busser BW | Year | 2004 |
| Journal | Int Immunol | Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 7 | Pages | 1001-7 |
| PubMed ID | 15159378 | Mgi Jnum | J:90761 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3044549 | Doi | 10.1093/intimm/dxh101 |
| Citation | Busser BW, et al. (2004) An increased frequency of autoantibody-inducing CD4+ T cells in pre-diseased lupus-prone mice. Int Immunol 16(7):1001-7 |
| abstractText | Pathogenic autoantibody production in murine models of lupus is dependent on autoreactive CD4+ helper T cells. However, the mechanisms which permit the selection and maintenance of this autoantibody-inducing CD4+ T-cell repertoire are currently unknown. We hypothesized that the peripheral CD4+ T-cell repertoire of lupus-prone mice was enriched with autoantibody-inducing specificities. To test this, we utilized the splenic focus assay to determine if pre-diseased lupus-prone (NZB x NZW)F(1) mice have an elevated frequency of autoreactive CD4+ T lymphocytes capable of supporting autoantibody production. The splenic focus limiting dilution assay permits anti-nuclear antibodies to be generated from contact-dependent T-B interactions in vitro. We show that young, pre-diseased lupus-prone mice have an elevated frequency of autoantibody-inducing CD4+ T cells. Interestingly, these autoantibody-inducing CD4+ T-cell responses are also present in the thymus. Therefore, an elevated frequency of autoantibody-inducing CD4+ T cells predisposes lupus-prone mice to the development of autoantibodies. |
