Open AccessHeat shock protein peptides reactive in patients with Behçet's disease are uveitogenic in Lewis rats
Author(s) -
STANFORD M. R.,
KASP E.,
WHISTON R.,
HASAN A.,
TODRYK S.,
SHINNICK T.,
MIZUSHIMA Y.,
DUMONDE DC.,
ZEE R.,
LEHNER T.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
clinical & experimental immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1365-2249
pISSN - 0009-9104
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1994.tb06072.x
Subject(s) - epitope , immunology , heat shock protein , pathogenesis , peptide , uveitis , behcet's disease , peptide sequence , biology , medicine , antigen , disease , biochemistry , pathology , gene
SUMMARY Mycobacterial and homologous human heat shock protein T cell peptide epitopes specific for T lymphocytes in Behçets disease were investigated for their pathogenicity in Lewis rats. The potential pathogenicity of eight peptides and two controls was assessed by administering the peptides in enriched Freund's adjuvant into the footpads of male Lewis rats. Anterior uveitis which is a major manifestation of Behçet's disease was induced with two out of the four mycobacterial and all four homologous human peptides. The most effective peptides inducing indocyclitis in 64‐75% of rats were peptides with amino acids 336‐351 and 136‐150, derived from the sequence of the human 60‐kD heat shock protein. A few of the rats also showed evidence of focal loss of photoreceptors. These results suggest that selected peptides within heat shock protein 60 kD which function as T cell epitopes in Behçet's disease are capable of inducing uveitis in rats. This supports the view that the peptide T cell determinants may be involved in the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease.