Autologous myelin-reactive T cell (MRTC)

Autologous myelin-reactive T cells are a subset of T lymphocytes that recognize and attack myelin antigens within the central nervous system, including myelin basic protein (MBP), proteolipid protein (PLP), and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) (PubMed: 15159678). In Multiple Sclerosis (MS), these cells escape peripheral tolerance, cross the blood-brain barrier, and initiate an inflammatory response that results in demyelination and neurodegeneration (PubMed: 21304465). These cells serve as a therapeutic target for personalized immunotherapies, most notably T-cell vaccination (TCV), where a patient's own autoreactive cells are isolated, attenuated, and re-injected to elicit a regulatory immune response (PubMed: 11713218). Drugs like Tcelna (Tovaxin) were developed to induce anti-idiotypic T cells that specifically downregulate these pathogenic myelin-reactive populations (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00505336). Although this approach aims for high specificity to avoid the side effects of systemic immunosuppression, identifying the precise T-cell clones responsible for disease in individual patients remains a significant challenge (PubMed: 28211446).

Other names

Myelin-specific T cellAutoreactive T cellEncephalitogenic T cellMyelin-reactive lymphocyte

Induction of anti-idiotypic and anti-ergotypic regulatory immune responses to deplete or suppress autoreactive T cell populations.