Strain specific variation in IFN-gamma inducible lymphocyte adhesion to rat brain endothelial cells.

ABSTRACT

We have examined the interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) induced increase in lymphocyte adhesion to rat brain endothelial cells (BEC) in the experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) susceptible LEW and resistant PVG strain. A significant increase in adhesion of mitogen activated lymphocytes could be demonstrated by stimulating LEW BEC with 50 U/ml IFN-gamma for 24 h. In contrast the same treatment failed to induce a significant increase in lymphocyte adhesion in the PVG strain. Flow cytometric analysis of lymphocyte integrin expression indicated a marked increase in the number of cells expressing both LFA-1 and VLA-4 following mitogen activation and was similar between the LEW and PVG strain. Depletion of LFA-1 and VLA-4 positive lymphocytes resulted in an equivalent inhibition of adhesion to BBB-EnC indicating that the adherent population was comprised predominantly of the VLA-4 + /LFA-1 + phenotype. We conclude that this strain variation in the IFN-gamma activation of BEC may be related to the disease phenotypes of these strains.