Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an animal model of multiple sclerosis that is induced by immunization with myelin antigens 1. The ability to generate EAE by activating myelin-specific T cells in the periphery of healthy animals demonstrates that central and peripheral mechanisms of tolerance are incomplete for these self-antigens. This lack of T cell tolerance toward myelin proteins was initially thought to be due to restricted expression of these antigens behind the blood–brain barrier. Recent data demonstrate that T cell epitopes from the two most abundant proteins in myelin, proteolipid protein (PLP) and myelin basic protein (MBP), are expressed not only within the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system but within the thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes as well 2,3,4,5,6.
In this issue of The Journal of...
