Individual specific bias usage of HLA-DR antigens in the restriction of myelin basic protein-reactive T cell clones.

Multiple sclerosis, a demyelinating disease of the human central nervous system occurs in genetically susceptible individuals through a presumably autoimmune mechanism directed against the myelin sheath. The influence of the major histocompatibility locus on T cell recognition of myelin basic protein (MBP), a suspected target autoantigen, was investigated by analyzing MBP-specific T cell clones generated from the peripheral blood of healthy individuals. Inhibition studies using monoclonal antibodies demonstrated that MBP recognition was restricted by HLA-DR antigens. MBP recognition of the majority of T cell clones from each individual was restricted predominantly by one of the DR alleles. Thus, there appears to be a bias in the use of allelic DR restricting elements for MBP responses.