Preferential use of a T cell receptor V beta gene by acetylcholine receptor reactive T cells from myasthenia gravis-susceptible mice.

Experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) is an important model for testing current concepts in autoimmunity and novel immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases. The EAMG autoantigen, acethylcholine receptor (AChR), is structurally and immunologically complex, a potential obstacle to the application of therapeutic strategies aimed at oligoclonal T cell populations. Inasmuch as we had previously shown that the clonal heterogeneity of T cell epitope recognition in EAMG was unexpectedly limited, we examined TCR V beta expression.

Scavengers of free radical oxygen affect the generation of low molecular weight DNA in stimulated lymphocytes from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Factors that potentially affect the generation of excess low molecular weight DNA (LMW-DNA) in cultured phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated lymphocytes of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were studied because this species of DNA is consistently found and this DNA may play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Superoxide dismutase (SOD; 0.05 mg/mL), a scavenger of free radical oxygen, decrease LMW-DNA formation in lymphocytes by 22%.

Segregation of lymphocyte low-molecular-weight DNA and antinuclear-antibodies in a family with systemic lupus erythematosus in first cousins.

All patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) demonstrated two classes of newly synthesized DNA in sucrose density gradients of PHA (phytohemagglutinin)-stimulated lymphocytes: a large-molecular-weight fraction that comigrates with control DNA and an excess low-molecular-weight DNA (LMW-DNA) fraction not found in control lymphocytes. Excess LMW-DNA was independent of disease activity or drug therapy. LMW-DNA and serologic abnormalities were studied in a four-generation family in which two first cousins had SLE.