Bystander suppression of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by T cell lines and clones of the Th2 type induced by copolymer 1

The synthetic amino acid copolymer, copolymer 1 (Cop 1) induces T suppresso r (Ts) lines/clones, which are confined to the Th2 pathway, cross react wit h myelin basic protein (MBP), but not with other myelin antigens on the lev el of Th2 cytokine secretion. Nevertheless, Cop 1 Ts cells inhibited the IL -2 response of a proteolipid protein (PLP) specific line. Furthermore, Cop 1 Ts cells ameliorated EAE induced by two unrelated encephalitogenic epitop es of PLP: p139-151 and p178-191, that produced different forms of disease. This bystander suppression demonstrated by the Cop 1 Ts cells may explain the therapeutic effect of Cop 1 in EAE and MS. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.