Characterization of the human T cell response against the neuronal proteinsynapsin in patients with multiple sclerosis

Although multiple sclerosis (MS) is considered primarily as a demyelinating disease, neuronal damage is abundant and correlates with the neurological deficit. Therefore, we investigated the frequency and characteristics of hu man T cells specific for synapsin-a neuronal protein highly conserved among species. Synapsin specific T cell responses were detected at a frequency s imilar to that of MBP specific T cells in MS patients, one patient with acu te demyelinating encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and controls. Long-term T cell li nes specific for synapsin exhibited a CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(-) phenotype and produced high amounts of tumor-necrosis-factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interf eron-gamma (IFN-gamma) after antigen specific stimulation, whereas lymphoto xin (LT), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were detectable i n smaller quantities. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.