Production of IgG autoantibodies to TCRs in mice infected with the retrovirus LP-BM5

• Published in: International immunology 1995-01, Vol.7 (1), p.31-36
• Main Authors: Dehghanpisheh, Keivan, Huang, Dennis, Schluter, Samuel F., Watson, Ronald R., Marchalonis, J. J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AIDS/HIV; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Antibodies; Autoantibodies; Autoantibodies - biosynthesis; Autoimmune diseases; Cell activation; Complementarity-determining region 1; Epitope Mapping; Female; immunochemistry; Immunodeficiency; Immunoglobulin G; Infections; Leukemia; Leukemia Virus, Murine; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes B; Lymphocytes T; MAIDS; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Molecular Sequence Data; Murine Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - immunology; murine leukemia virus; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta - immunology; Selectivity; synthetic peptides; T-cell receptor; Time Factors; Variable region; Vβ antigens
• ISSN: 0953-8178; 1460-2377
• DOI: 10.1093/intimm/7.1.31

Autoantibodies (AAbs) directed against particular segments of the variable region of TCR β chains occur in normal humans and in certain autoimmune diseases, but the factors regulating the appearance of such antibodies are unknown. We report that AAbs binding a peptide determinant corresponding to the CDR1 of the Vβ domain are elevated in C57BL/6 mice following infection with the LP-BM5 murlne leukemia retrovirus mixture, a treatment used to induce murine AIDS. The elevation of the level of these AAbs is an early event following retrovlral infection which corresponds in part to the general polyclonal activation of the B cells, but a selectivity for particular Vβ sequences is apparent later. This suggests that the appearance of these antibodies may play a part in the subsequent development of immunodeficiency. Since the antibodies studied are of the IgG isotype, both T cells and B cells are involved in their elaboration.