Bone marrow lacking integrin expression facilitates an enhanced susceptibility to EAE in the xenogeneic bone marrow chimeras.

Xenotransplantation of rat bone marrow cells (BMC) into immunodeficient (SCID) mice generates chimeric mice susceptible to paralytic autoimmune CNS inflammation. Herein, we identified a disease relevant subset of transplantable BMC lacking expression of CD11b/c and CD49d. Moreover, disease susceptibility was enhanced in the presence of non-myelin specific T-cells.