Studies in this proposal will determine the location and identity of genes responsible for susceptibility and resistance to experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, an animal model for the human disorder, multiple sclerosis. Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) can be induced in the LEW rat strain, but the genetically dissimilar LEW-resistant (LER) and Brown Norway (BN) inbred strains are completely resistant to EAE induction. Our work with backcross rats in this system has led us to conclude that three genetic loci govern the susceptibility of these rats to EAE, and that one of these three determines severity of clinical symptoms. Our objective is to find and identify these genes. After conducting a search of likely candidate genes to explain this inheritance pattern, we have turned to genomic screening technology to help us narrow our search for the three EAE-modifying genes. Genomic screening methods (such as microsatellite mapping) are powerful tools for mapping heritable disease-modifying loci. A successful mapping experiment allows the investigator to exclude large portions of the genome that are not linked to the trait under study, and narrows the focus of subsequent experiments to genomic intervals that are likely to contain a gene of interest. The use of genomic screening in animal models of several disease states (for example, diabetes, hypertension, and epilepsy) has led to the location of multiple disease-modifying loci. This type of screening has the further potential for allowing the eventual cloning of such genes. The considerable homology between the organization of rat and human genomes and the similarities between EAE and the human demyelinating disease lend considerable credence to the hypothesis that genes found to be important in rat EAE will be important in multiple sclerosis as well. All of these features make the application of large-scale genomic methods to samples from our extensive collection of backcross rats segregating for the EAE trait an ideal combination for meeting our goal.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01NS025519-06
Application #
2265564
Study Section
Immunological Sciences Study Section (IMS)
Project Start
1988-02-01
Project End
1996-07-31
Budget Start
1995-04-01
Budget End
1996-07-31
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
1995
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Allegheny University of Health Sciences
Department
Microbiology/Immun/Virology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
City
Philadelphia
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
19129
Blankenhorn, E P; Butterfield, R J; Rigby, R et al. (2000) Genetic analysis of the influence of pertussis toxin on experimental allergic encephalomyelitis susceptibility: an environmental agent can override genetic checkpoints. J Immunol 164:3420-5
Teuscher, C; Butterfield, R J; Ma, R Z et al. (1999) Sequence polymorphisms in the chemokines Scya1 (TCA-3), Scya2 (monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1), and Scya12 (MCP-5) are candidates for eae7, a locus controlling susceptibility to monophasic remitting/nonrelapsing experimental allergic encephalomy J Immunol 163:2262-6
Bourque, M M; Martin, A M; Desquennes-Clark, L et al. (1996) Possible mechanism for the TCR beta-chain associated EAE resistance of LER rats. J Neurosci Res 45:714-22
Blankenhorn, E P; Stranford, S A; Martin, A M et al. (1995) Cloning of myelin basic protein-reactive T cells from the experimental allergic encephalomyelitis-resistant rat strain, LER. J Neuroimmunol 59:173-83
Livingstone, K D; Sudweeks, J D; Blankenhorn, E P et al. (1995) Susceptibility to actively-induced murine experimental allergic encephalomyelitis is not linked to genes of the T cell receptor or CD3 complexes. Autoimmunity 21:195-201
Wardell, B B; Michael, S D; Tung, K S et al. (1995) Aod1, the immunoregulatory locus controlling abrogation of tolerance in neonatal thymectomy-induced autoimmune ovarian dysgenesis, maps to mouse chromosome 16. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 92:4758-62
Sudweeks, J D; Todd, J A; Blankenhorn, E P et al. (1993) Locus controlling Bordetella pertussis-induced histamine sensitization (Bphs), an autoimmune disease-susceptibility gene, maps distal to T-cell receptor beta-chain gene on mouse chromosome 6. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 90:3700-4
Fu, Y; Blankenhorn, E P (1992) Nitric oxide-induced anti-mitogenic effects in high and low responder rat strains. J Immunol 148:2217-22
Blankenhorn, E P; Smith, P D; Williams, C B et al. (1992) Alleles of the rat T-cell receptor beta chain gene complex. Immunogenetics 35:324-31
Williams, C B; Blankenhorn, E P; Byrd, K E et al. (1991) Organization and nucleotide sequence of the rat T cell receptor beta-chain complex. J Immunol 146:4406-13

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