Immune-mediated injury of virus-infected oligodendrocytes A model of multiple sclerosis.

The causes of primary demyelination in diseases such as multiple sclerosis are still unknown, but it is possible that immune attack triggered by virus infection may be responsible. Theiler's murine encephalitis is a popular animal model of demyelinating diseases, and in this article Moses Rodriguez and his colleagues describe a hypothetical scheme to explain differential susceptibility of inbred strains to infection. They propose a mechanism by which specific demyelination is produced when immune cells interact with viral antigen and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens.