Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0014070 (encephalomyelitis)
 13,017 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A leader polypeptide of unknown function is encoded by cardioviruses, such as Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus. Although the deletion of this polypeptide has little effect on the growth of parental GDVII virus in baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells, the mutant virus is completely attenuated and fails to kill mice receiving intracerebral inoculations of high doses of the virus.
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PMID:The leader polypeptide of Theiler's virus is essential for neurovirulence but not for virus growth in BHK cells. 763 99

Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) is a ubiquitously expressed serine/threonine kinase. However, a requirement for Cdk5 has been demonstrated only in postmitotic neurons where there is abundant expression of its activating partners p35 and/or p39. Although hyperactivation of the Cdk5-p35 complex has been found in a variety of inflammatory neurodegenerative disorders, the potential contribution of nonneuronal Cdk5-p35 activity has not been explored in this context. We describe a previously unknown function of the Cdk5-p35 complex in T cells that is required for induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation leads to a rapid induction of Cdk5-p35 expression that is required for T lymphocyte activation. Chimeric mice lacking Cdk5 gene expression in hematopoietic tissues (Cdk5(-/-C)) are resistant to induction of EAE, and adoptive transfer of either Cdk5(-/-C) or p35(-/-) encephalitogenic lymphocytes fails to transfer disease. Moreover, our data reveal a novel mechanism involving Cdk5-mediated phosphorylation of the actin modulator coronin 1a on threonine 418. Cdk5-deficient lymphocytes lack this posttranslational modification of coronin 1a and exhibit defective TCR-induced actin polarization and reduced migration toward CCL-19. These data define a distinct role for Cdk5 in lymphocyte biology and suggest that inhibition of this kinase may be beneficial in the treatment of T cell-mediated inflammatory disorders.
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PMID:Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 activity is required for T cell activation and induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. 2093 6

We have previously identified eight novel autoantibody targets in the cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, including sperm-associated Ag 16 (SPAG16). In the current study, we further investigated the autoantibody response against SPAG16-a protein with unknown function in the CNS-and its expression in MS pathology. Using isoelectric focusing, we detected SPAG16-specific oligoclonal bands in the cerebrospinal fluid of 5 of 23 MS patients (22%). Analysis of the anti-SPAG16 Ab reactivity in the plasma of a total of 531 donors using ELISA demonstrated significantly elevated anti-SPAG16 Ab levels (p = 0.002) in 32 of 153 MS patients (21%) compared with all other control groups with 95% specificity for the disease. To investigate the pathologic relevance of anti-SPAG16 Abs in vivo, anti-SPAG16 Abs were injected in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, resulting in a significant disease exacerbation. Finally, we demonstrated a consistent upregulation of SPAG16 in MS brain and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis spinal cord lesions, more specifically in reactive astrocytes. We conclude that SPAG16 is a novel autoantibody target in a subgroup of MS patients and in combination with other diagnostic criteria, elevated levels of anti-SPAG16 Abs could be used as a biomarker for diagnosis. Furthermore, the pathologic relevance of anti-SPAG16 Abs was shown in vivo.
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PMID:Sperm-associated antigen 16 is a novel target of the humoral autoimmune response in multiple sclerosis. 2508 73