Epicutaneous immunisation with autoantigenic peptides induces T suppressor cells that prevent experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. Bynoe, M. S. et al. Immunity 19, 317–328 (2003)
The outcome of immunization with antigen depends on the route and dose of antigen administration. Bynoe et al. show that mice transgenic for a T-cell receptor specific for the myelin basic protein peptide Ac1–11, immunized epicutaneously (ECi) with Ac1-11, show dose-dependent protection from subsequent attempts to induce experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). After transfer into naive animals, CD4+ T cells from protected mice conferred resistance to both induced and spontaneous EAE, and in vitro these cells suppressed proliferation and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production by naive CD4+ Ac1–11-specific T cells. Antigen-presenting cells isolated from the epidermis of ECi mice were unable to stimulate naive CD4+ T-cell proliferation in vitro, leading the authors to suggest that ECi with antigen induces suppressor cells as a result of inappropriate T-cell priming and so elicits protection from autoimmunity.
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