T-CELL ANTIGENIC AND NEURITOGENIC ACTIVITY OF RECOMBINANT HUMAN PERIPHERAL MYELIN P2 PROTEIN

The major neuritogenic protein of peripheral nerve myelin is the P2 pr otein. Human P2 is a candidate autoantigen in inflammatory demyelinati ng diseases of the peripheral nervous system. Since human P2 is not re adily available, we produced full-length recombinant human P2 protein (rhP2) in Escherichia coli. RhP2 was recognized by neuritogenic rat T cell lines and induced experimental autoimmune neuritis in Lewis rats. Production of rhP2 allowed the generation of human T cell lines react ive to the autologous protein. Studies of human T cell autoreactivity as well as efforts to use hP2 as a tolerogen will be facilitated by th e large-scale expression of rhP2.