At. Linke et Dk. Male, STRAIN-SPECIFIC VARIATION IN CONSTITUTIVE AND INDUCIBLE EXPRESSION OFMHC CLASS-II, CLASS-I AND ICAM-1 ON RAT CEREBRAL ENDOTHELIUM, Immunology, 82(1), 1994, pp. 88-94
Strain variation in levels of Inducible major histocompatibility compl
ex (MHC) class II expression by rat cerebral endothelium has previousl
y been reported. Using primary cell cultures of rat cerebral endotheli
um from PVG (RT1(c)), LEW (RT1(1)), PVG.LEW (RT1(1)) and PVG.AGUS (RT1
(1v?)) strains it was determined that variation in levels of inducible
MHC class II expression between strains can be accounted for by both
cis-acting elements within the MHC region and by trans-acting elements
outside the MHC. In addition it was determined that levels of constit
utive MHC class I expression varied between PVG (RT1(c)) and LEW (RT1(
1)) strains which can be attributed to cis-acting elements within the
MHC region. Furthermore, while levels of constitutive class I expressi
on vary between PVG (RT1(c)) and LEW (RT1(1)) endothelium we could fin
d no difference in the interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) inducible expressi
on of class I between these two strains. In contrast the inducibility
of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in response to IFN-gamma
was found to differ between PVG and LEW endothelium. Significant leve
ls of ICAM-1 are induced on LEW cerebral endothelium after 24 hr expos
ure to 50 U/ml IFN-gamma. However, no significant induction of ICAM-1
could be demonstrated on PVG, or BN cerebral endothelium after the sam
e exposure to IFN-gamma. Induction of ICAM-1 by IFN-gamma precedes MHC
class II by at least 24 hr and its persistence is proportional to the
concentration of IFN-gamma used. We suggest that the rat MHC region (
RT1) contains elements which control the levels of constitutive class
I expression and inducible class II expression in response to IFN-gamm
a, but that other non-RT1 genes influence the inducibility of MHC clas
s II on rat cerebral endothelial cells. This observation, together wit
h the finding that ICAM-1 expression is not significantly increased in
response to IFN-gamma on PVG or BN endothelium, suggests that IFN-gam
ma responsiveness by these strains differs from LEW.