TY - JOUR A1 - Hohmann, Christopher A1 - Milles, Bianca A1 - Schinke, Michael A1 - Schroeter, Michael A1 - Ulzheimer, Jochen A1 - Kraft, Peter A1 - Kleinschnitz, Christoph A1 - Lehmann, Paul V. A1 - Kuerten, Stefanie T1 - Categorization of multiple sclerosis relapse subtypes by B cell profiling in the blood JF - Acta Neuropathologica Communications N2 - INTRODUCTION: B cells are attracting increasing attention in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). B cell-targeted therapies with monoclonal antibodies or plasmapheresis have been shown to be successful in a subset of patients. Here, patients with either relapsing-remitting (n = 24) or secondary progressive (n = 6) MS presenting with an acute clinical relapse were screened for their B cell reactivity to brain antigens and were re-tested three to nine months later. Enzyme-linked immunospot technique (ELISPOT) was used to identify brain-reactive B cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) directly ex vivo and after 96 h of polyclonal stimulation. Clinical severity of symptoms was determined using the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). RESULTS: Nine patients displayed B cells in the blood producing brain-specific antibodies directly ex vivo. Six patients were classified as B cell positive donors only after polyclonal B cell stimulation. In 15 patients a B cell response to brain antigens was absent. Based on the autoreactive B cell response we categorized MS relapses into three different patterns. Patients who displayed brain-reactive B cell responses both directly ex vivo and after polyclonal stimulation (pattern I) were significantly younger than patients in whom only memory B cell responses were detectable or entirely absent (patterns II and III; p = 0.003). In one patient a conversion to a positive B cell response as measured directly ex vivo and subsequently also after polyclonal stimulation was associated with the development of a clinical relapse. The evaluation of the predictive value of a brain antigen-specific B cell response showed that seven of eight patients (87.5%) with a pattern I response encountered a clinical relapse during the observation period of 10 months, compared to two of five patients (40%) with a pattern II and three of 14 patients (21.4%) with a pattern III response (p = 0.0005; hazard ratio 6.08 (95% confidence interval 1.87-19.77). CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate actively ongoing B cell-mediated immunity against brain antigens in a subset of MS patients that may be causative of clinical relapses and provide new diagnostic and therapeutic options for a subset of patients. KW - ELISPOT KW - MS KW - predictive value KW - relapse KW - B cells Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-120580 SN - 2051-5960 VL - 2 IS - 138 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hohnmann, Christopher A1 - Milles, Bianca A1 - Schinke, Michael A1 - Schroeter, Michael A1 - Ulzheimer, Jochen A1 - Kraft, Peter A1 - Kleinschnitz, Christoph A1 - Lehmann, Paul V. A1 - Kuerten, Stefanie T1 - Categorization of multiple sclerosis relapse subtypes by B cell profiling in the blood JF - Acta Neuropathologica Communications N2 - Introduction B cells are attracting increasing attention in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). B cell-targeted therapies with monoclonal antibodies or plasmapheresis have been shown to be successful in a subset of patients. Here, patients with either relapsing-remitting (n = 24) or secondary progressive (n = 6) MS presenting with an acute clinical relapse were screened for their B cell reactivity to brain antigens and were re-tested three to nine months later. Enzyme-linked immunospot technique (ELISPOT) was used to identify brain-reactive B cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) directly ex vivo and after 96 h of polyclonal stimulation. Clinical severity of symptoms was determined using the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Results Nine patients displayed B cells in the blood producing brain-specific antibodies directly ex vivo. Six patients were classified as B cell positive donors only after polyclonal B cell stimulation. In 15 patients a B cell response to brain antigens was absent. Based on the autoreactive B cell response we categorized MS relapses into three different patterns. Patients who displayed brain-reactive B cell responses both directly ex vivo and after polyclonal stimulation (pattern I) were significantly younger than patients in whom only memory B cell responses were detectable or entirely absent (patterns II and III; p = 0.003). In one patient a conversion to a positive B cell response as measured directly ex vivo and subsequently also after polyclonal stimulation was associated with the development of a clinical relapse. The evaluation of the predictive value of a brain antigen-specific B cell response showed that seven of eight patients (87.5%) with a pattern I response encountered a clinical relapse during the observation period of 10 months, compared to two of five patients (40%) with a pattern II and three of 14 patients (21.4%) with a pattern III response (p = 0.0005; hazard ratio 6.08 (95% confidence interval 1.87-19.77). Conclusions Our data indicate actively ongoing B cell-mediated immunity against brain antigens in a subset of MS patients that may be causative of clinical relapses and provide new diagnostic and therapeutic options for a subset of patients. KW - predictive value KW - MS KW - ELISPOT KW - B cells KW - relapse Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126124 VL - 2 IS - 138 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 - TY - THES A1 - Ulzheimer, Jochen C. T1 - Funktionelle Charakterisierung der Transportproteine für Organische Kationen rOCT1 und hOCT2 unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der cis-/trans-Asymmetrie von rOCT1 T1 - Functional Characterization of the Transport Proteins for Organic Cations rOCT1 and hOCT2 - with Special Focus on the cis-/trans-Asymmetry of rOCT1 N2 - rOCT1 und hOCT2 sind zwei homologe Transportproteine für organische Kationen, die in Niere und Leber den ersten Schritt der transepithelialen Sekretion von Metaboliten und Xenobiotika vermitteln. Eines ihrer wesentlichen Charakteristika ist neben der Potentialabhängigkeit die Polyspezifität hinsichtlich Transportsubstraten und Hemmstoffen. Beide Transporter können als Uniporter klassifiziert werden, d.h. sie besitzen keine obligate Kopplung an ein Austausch- oder Cosubstrat wie z.B. Natrium, Protonen oder andere organische Kationen. Darüberhinaus zeigen sie das für Transportproteine typische und von Kanälen distinkte Charakteristikum der trans-Stimulierbarkeit. Mit rOCT1 konnten erstmals für einen Prototypen der Transportersuperfamilie SLC22 nähere Aufschlüsse über den Transportmechanismus erhalten werden. Zum einen wurde nachgewiesen, daß rOCT1 eine direktionale Asymmetrie besitzt, d.h. unter Sättigungsbedingungen besteht eine kinetische Bevorzugung der Transportrichtung von extra- nach intrazellulär um den Faktor zwei bis fünf. Zum anderen wurden anhand von rOCT1 neue Erkenntnisse zum Bindungs- und Interaktionsverhalten von Hemmstoffen und Transportsubstraten in Abhängigkeit von der Transportrichtung gewonnen. Hierbei erscheint das bisherige Modell von topologisch festgelegter kompetitiver und allosterischer Hemmung zu stark vereinfacht und nicht zutreffend. Die Bindung von Transportsubstraten und die dadurch induzierten Konformationsänderungen scheinen selbst die Bindungseigenschaften von Hemmstoffen in mehreren Zuständen zu beeinflussen. Auch scheinen Transport- und Ionenleitfähigkeit von OCT zu differenzieren zu sein. Zur Klärung der Fragestellungen wurde das Expressionsmodell Xenopus-Oozyte durch die Etablierung der sogenannten Effluxmethodik funktionell und methodisch wesentlich erweitert. N2 - rOCT1 and hOCT2 are two homologous transport proteins for organic cations mediating the first step of transepithelial secretion of metabolites and xenobiotics in kidney and liver. Major common characteristics are potential dependence and polyspecificity for substrates and inhibitors. Both transporters may be classified as uniporters, which means that they are not obligatorily coupled to exchange or cotransport of a second substrate as e.g. sodium, protons or other organic cations. Further they display trans-stimulation as a core characteristic of transporters distinguishing them from channels. rOCT1 is the first prototypic member of the novel superfamily of transporters SLC22 to be investigated for its transport mechanism. It could be shown that rOCT1 displays a directional asymmetry in that the transport direction from the extracellular to the intracellular space is kinetically favoured by a factor of two to five. Further, novel findings could be obtained regarding binding and interaction of inhibitors and transportable substrates in dependence of the transport direction. These findings suggest the topologically defined allosteric and competitive inhibition models to be too simplistic and not applicable. Binding of transport substrates and hereby induced conformational changes seem to alter the binding properties of inhibitors in the respective orientation states. Beyond that, transport and ionic conduction charcteristics of OCT should be distinguished. For this investigation the expression system Xenopus oocyte has been substantially expanded in functional and methodological regards by establishing and optimizing efflux methods. KW - organische Kationen KW - Membrantransport KW - Ratte KW - trans-Stimulation KW - Asymmetrie KW - organic cations KW - membrane transport KW - rat KW - trans-stimulation KW - asymmetry Y1 - 2003 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-6444 ER - 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 -