Migratory Cues For Encephalitogenic Effector T Cells Within The CNS During The Different Phases Of EAE

by Christian Schläger
Doctoral thesis
Date of Examination:2013-04-30
Date of issue:2013-06-17
Advisor:Prof. Dr. Alexander Flügel
Referee:Prof. Dr. Holger Reichardt
Referee:Prof. Dr. Mikael Simons
Persistent Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.53846/goediss-3891

 

 

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Abstract

English

In multiple sclerosis (MS), encephalitogenic T cells are considered to breach distinct cerebral barriers in order to gain access to their target tissue, the CNS. However, it remains poorly understood exactly how auto-reactive T cells overcome these boundaries and which migratory cues guide them on their journey. In the present work, intravital two-photon laser scanning microscopy (TPLSM) was employed to examine in detail the migratory behavior of adoptively transferred GFP+ CD4+ MBP-reactive T cells under the influence of chemokine signaling during different disease phases of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for MS. During preclinical EAE, encephalitogenic effector T cells were crawling along the intraluminal surface of leptomeningeal blood vessels preferentially against the direction of the blood stream. Intravenous administration of pertussis toxin (PTx) or a neutralizing anti-CXCR3mAb revealed that chemokines play an essential role for this intravascular crawling behavior. (1) Intraluminal crawling was almost completely abolished; (2) the remaining fraction of cells profoundly changed their motility characteristics, i.e. they crawled for a shorter time with increased velocity and reversed their orientation to go with instead of against the flow. Once myelin-reactive T cells had transgressed the vascular barriers they continued their migration throughout the meningeal surface. Interference with chemokine signaling at this stage had only a moderate impact on the basal T cell motility. However, chemokines were important for stabilizing the contacts between T cells and resident phagocytes and furthermore prevented the detachment of T cells from the meningeal surface into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In sum, the data indicate that encephalitogenic T cells invade the CNS through a well-coordinated sequence of distinct steps, in which chemokines play a major role. Chemokines regulate effector T cell infiltration by controlling adhesion-dependent migratory steps and intercellular interactions during CNS inflammation.
Keywords: EAE; MS; Chemokines; T cells; TPLSM; intravascular crawling
 
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