Immunotherapy of experimental arthritis. Analysis of the articular cartilage of mice suppressed for collagen-induced arthritis by a T-cell hybridoma.

The present study elucidates the suppression of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) by T-suppressor cells through the analysis of the joints and articular cartilage of mice suppressed for CIA by a T-cell hybridoma. T-cell hybridomas (T101N and T104B1) were derived from the somatic cell fusion of splenic and thymic cells of mice suppressed for CIA and the AKR BW 5147 thymoma cell line. CIA mice administered 1 X 10(5) T101N hybridoma cells intravenously were observed to have reduced hind paw pathology scores as well as reduced edema, compared with CIA mice or CIA mice administered 1 X 10(5) cells of a control T-cell hybridoma, T104B1. The hind paw articular cartilage of joints from mice with CIA administered T101N cells resembled normal joint architecture in histologic staining and alignment of articular cartilage surfaces. The histopathology observed in joints of mice administered T104B1 hybridoma cells resembled that of CIA mice with large pannus formation, fibrous bridging of the joint, soft-tissue metaplasia, and joint disorganization. The data indicate that specific T-cell hybridoma cell lines can modulate the joint histopathology observed in CIA to resemble the joint architecture of noninflammatory joints.