Immunogenic potentials of copolymer I in normal human lymphocytes.

Copolymer I (COP I), a nonencephalitogenic polypeptide analogous to myelin basic protein, is currently being tested for possible effectiveness in treating MS. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from normal human donors respond blastogenically to the L-form of COP I. This response was greater than that obtained with either bovine or guinea pig myelin basic protein (GPMBP), with no specificity for a particular T-cell subset. Analyses of culture supernatants demonstrated the presence of interleukin-2 and gamma interferon. Mononuclear cells from human fetal cord blood also responded blastogenically to COP I, but the magnitude of the response did not differ from that induced by GPMBP.