Genetic differences in the T cell receptor alleles of LEW rats and their encephalomyelitis-resistant derivative, LER, and their impact on the inheritance of EAE resistance.

Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an animal model for the human disease, multiple sclerosis. The LEW rat strain is very susceptible to induction of EAE, whereas the closely related, major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-identical, inbred strain LER is resistant. In this report, the two rat strains have been compared for differences at a number of immunologically relevant loci by restriction fragment length analysis and by nucleotide sequencing. A major difference between the two strains was discovered at the T cell receptor beta chain locus (TcR beta). Both variable (V beta 8) and constant (C beta 1) region elements of TcR beta showed allelic variation between LEW and LER. The known genetic influences in rat models of autoimmunity are currently limited to those encoded by the rat MHC, RT-1. In this study we report our characterization of the allelic differences in TcR beta chains between two rats which differ in their susceptibility to induced EAE, with the goal of understanding the role played by these allelic forms of TcR in the pathogenesis of EAE. The importance of the TcR beta allelic difference in resistance or susceptibility to EAE was assessed in a study of backcross rats scored for both EAE and for the novel LER TcR beta allele. We found that the TcR beta allele from the susceptible strain was present in three out of four susceptible rats, suggesting that it is an important, but not the only, genetic factor in EAE. Supporting this conclusion were the observations that 12 of 13 rats with homozygous LER-derived TCR beta alleles were resistant to EAE.