Nogo-receptor 1 deficiency has no influence on immune cell repertoire or function during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 5;8(12):e82101. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082101. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

The potential role of Nogo-66 Receptor 1 (NgR1) on immune cell phenotypes and their activation during neuroinflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), is unclear. To further understand the function of this receptor on haematopoietically-derived cells, phenotypic and functional analyses were performed using NgR1-deficient (ngr1-/-) animals. Flow cytometry-based phenotypic analyses performed on blood, spleen, thymus, lymph nodes, bone marrow and central nervous-system (CNS)-infiltrating blood cells revealed no immunological defects in naïve ngr1-/- animals versus wild-type littermate (WTLM) controls. EAE was induced by either recombinant myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (rMOG), a model in which B cells are considered to contribute pathogenically, or by MOG35-55 peptide, a B cell-independent model. We have demonstrated that in ngr1-/- mice injected with MOG35-55, a significant reduction in the severity of EAE correlated with reduced axonal damage present in the spinal cord when compared to their WTLM controls. However, despite a reduction in axonal damage observed in the CNS of ngr1-/- mice at the chronic stage of disease, no clinical differences could be attributed to a specific genotype when rMOG was used as the encephalitogen. Following MOG35-55-induction of EAE, we could not derive any major changes to the immune cell populations analyzed between ngr1-/- and WTLM mice. Collectively, these data demonstrate that NgR1 has little if any effects on the repertoire of immune cells, their activation and trafficking to the CNS.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • B-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • B-Lymphocytes / pathology
  • Cell Movement / genetics
  • Cell Movement / immunology*
  • Central Nervous System / immunology*
  • Central Nervous System / pathology
  • Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / genetics
  • Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / immunology*
  • Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / pathology
  • GPI-Linked Proteins / genetics
  • GPI-Linked Proteins / immunology
  • Lymphocyte Activation / genetics
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Multiple Sclerosis / genetics
  • Multiple Sclerosis / immunology*
  • Multiple Sclerosis / pathology
  • Myelin Proteins / genetics
  • Myelin Proteins / immunology*
  • Nogo Receptor 1
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / genetics
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / immunology*

Substances

  • GPI-Linked Proteins
  • Myelin Proteins
  • Nogo Receptor 1
  • Receptors, Cell Surface
  • Rtn4r protein, mouse

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the Eva and Les Erdi AUSiMED Fellowship in Neurological Diseases, Cure MS Inc. Ltd, the Diana Asmar fund and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society of New York (RG4398A1/1). Sara A Litwak was a Fellow of the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.