The susceptibility to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis is not related to dysferlin-deficiency

Abstract

Recent observations suggested that dysferlin might play a role in the development of autoimmune central nervous system (CNS) inflammation. To address this issue, we studied the induction and effector phase of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in C57BL/10 mice producing intact or functionally deficient dysferlin. We found that both types of mice showed identical T-cell and antibody responses against the immunogen, and developed CNS inflammation with identical clinical courses, frequencies, lesion distributions, sizes and compositions. These findings suggest that the presence or absence of dysferlin does not have any consequences for the triggering or effector phase of autoimmune CNS inflammation.