Authors Jelcic et al. (Cell, 2018) have in this recent Cell-paper identified an autoantigen involved in multiple sclerosis (MS) and expressed in neurons as well as B cells. To assess the immunogenicity of the autoantigen in MS patients, the authors evaluated T cell reactivity in a FluoroSpot Plus: IFN-γ/IL-22/IL-17A.
The emerging scenario of the study suggests that B cells expressing the autoantigen shape the autoreactive T cell repertoire, perhaps already at thymic selection. Interestingly, this finding also provides an explanation for why anti-CD20 treatment is effective in a T cell-mediated disease like MS.
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