Effective and selective immune surveillance of the brain by MHC class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes

Abstract

Cytotoxic CD8+ T cells are abundantly present in human virus-induced or putative autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). Their direct role in the induction of inflammatory brain damage is, however, poorly understood. We have studied CD8+ T cell-mediated brain inflammation by transferring MHC class I-restricted hemagglutinin (HA)-reactive T cells from a TCR transgenic mouse line into transgenic mice, which express HA in astrocytes. We show that activated CD8+ T cells alone can induce monophasic brain inflammation in immunocompetent recipient animals. Similar to previous studies, involving transfer of CD4+ cells, brain inflammation peaks after 5-7 days and then declines. The pathology of brain inflammation, however, differs fundamentally from that induced by CD4+ cells. The inflammatory reaction is dominated by T cells and activated microglia in the virtual absence of hematogenous macrophages. This is associated with exquisitely specific destruction of antigen-containing astrocytes in the absence of any bystander damage of myelin, oligodendrocytes or neurons. Furthermore, in contrast to CD4+ T cells, some CD8+ cells accumulate in the brain and activate microglia in recipient animals, even in the absence of the specific antigen in the CNS. These data indicate that CD8+ T cells are prime candidates for immune surveillance of the CNS.