Figure 1
Age-dependent disease susceptibility to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. (A) C57BL/6 mice (H-2b) between the ages of 4 days and 20 weeks were immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)p35-55 to actively induce experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Animals younger than 8 weeks were resistant to EAE. There was no difference in disease severity between 8- and 20-week-old mice, but both these groups are significantly different from mice younger than 8 weeks. (B) Age-associated capability of splenocytes to present antigen. The 10-day-old splenocytes fail to proliferate in response to antigen (Ag), whereas the proliferative responses in 8-week-old mice are robust. (C) Decreased proliferative responses are also observed when gamma-irradiated splenocytes from 10-day-old mice present MOGp35-55 at low and intermediate doses to MOGp35-55-specific T cells. This relative deficiency in Ag presentation by irradiated splenocytes from 10-day-old mice can be compensated with high doses of Ag.