TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wunsch, Marie
A1  - Hohmann, Christopher
A1  - Milles, Bianca
A1  - Rostermund, Christina
A1  - Lehmann, Paul V.
A1  - Schroeter, Michael
A1  - Bayas, Antonios
A1  - Ulzheimer, Jochen
A1  - Mäurer, Mathias
A1  - Ergün, Süleyman
A1  - Kuerten, Stefanie
T1  - The Correlation between the Virus- and Brain Antigen-Specific B Cell Response in the Blood of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
JF  - Viruses
N2  - There is a largely divergent body of literature regarding the relationship between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and brain inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we tested MS patients during relapse (n = 11) and in remission (n = 19) in addition to n = 22 healthy controls to study the correlation between the EBV- and brain-specific B cell response in the blood by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cytomegalovirus (CMV) was used as a control antigen tested in n = 16 MS patients during relapse and in n = 35 patients in remission. Over the course of the study, n = 16 patients were untreated, while n = 33 patients received immunomodulatory therapy. The data show that there was a moderate correlation between the frequencies of EBV- and brain-reactive B cells in MS patients in remission. In addition we could detect a correlation between the B cell response to EBV and disease activity. There was no evidence of an EBV reactivation. Interestingly, there was also a correlation between the frequencies of CMV- and brain-specific B cells in MS patients experiencing an acute relapse and an elevated B cell response to CMV was associated with higher disease activity. The trend remained when excluding seronegative subjects but was non-significant. These data underline that viral infections might impact the immunopathology of MS, but the exact link between the two entities remains subject of controversy.
KW  - B cells
KW  - CMV
KW  - EBV
KW  - ELISPOT
KW  - MS
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-146946
VL  - 8
IS  - 4
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Rovituso, Damiano M.
A1  - Scheffler, Laura
A1  - Wunsch, Marie
A1  - Kleinschnitz, Christoph
A1  - Dörck, Sebastian
A1  - Ulzheimer, Jochen
A1  - Bayas, Antonios
A1  - Steinman, Lawrence
A1  - Ergün, Süleyman
A1  - Kuerten, Stefanie
T1  - CEACAM1 mediates B cell aggregation in central nervous system autoimmunity
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - B cell aggregates in the central nervous system (CNS) have been associated with rapid disease progression in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Here we demonstrate a key role of carcinoembryogenic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule1 (CEACAM1) in B cell aggregate formation in MS patients and a B cell-dependent mouse model of MS. CEACAM1 expression was increased on peripheral blood B cells and CEACAM1\(^+\) B cells were present in brain infiltrates of MS patients. Administration of the anti-CEACAM1 antibody T84.1 was efficient in blocking aggregation of B cells derived from MS patients. Along these lines, application of the monoclonal anti-CEACAM1 antibody mCC1 was able to inhibit CNS B cell aggregate formation and significantly attenuated established MS-like disease in mice in the absence of any adverse effects. CEACAM1 was co-expressed with the regulator molecule T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain −3 (TIM-3) on B cells, a novel molecule that has recently been described to induce anergy in T cells. Interestingly, elevated coexpression on B cells coincided with an autoreactive T helper cell phenotype in MS patients. Overall, these data identify CEACAM1 as a clinically highly interesting target in MS pathogenesis and open new therapeutic avenues for the treatment of the disease.
KW  - autoimmunity
KW  - multiple sclerosis
KW  - neuroimmunology
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-147690
VL  - 6
ER  -