Gender-specific expression of beta1 integrin of VLA-4 in myelin basic protein-primed T cells: implications for gender bias in multiple sclerosis.

ABSTRACT: Susceptibility to multiple sclerosis is higher in females than males. However, the underlying mechanism behind this gender difference is poorly understood. Because the presence of neuroantigen-primed T cells in the CNS is necessary to initiate the neuroinflammatory cascade of multiple sclerosis, we first investigated how these T cells interacted with astroglia, major resident glial cells of the CNS. Interestingly, we found that myelin basic protein (MBP)-primed T cells from female and castrated male mice, but not from male mice, produced proinflammatory molecules, such as NO, IL-1beta, and IL-6 in astroglia, and these responses were purely via contact between T cells and astroglia. Because T cell:glia contact requires several integrin molecules, we examined the involvement of integrins in

SUBMITTER: Brahmachari S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2922040 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature