Adoptive transfer of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis with lectin-activated spleen cells.

Adoptive transfer of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) was achieved in Lewis rats using spleen cells incubated in vitro with various lectins. When stimulated with concanavalin A (Con A), its derivative succinyl-Con A, Lens culinaris or Pisum sativum agglutinin, spleen cells obtained from rats immunized with encephalitogenic emulsion could transfer EAE to normal syngeneic recipients. In contrast, spleen cells stimulated with Phaseolus vulgaris, Robinia pseudoacacia or Wisteria floribunda agglutinin did not transfer EAE. Transfer of EAE with Con A-activated spleen cells was abolished by the specific hapten inhibitor, alpha-methyl-D-mannoside, but not by D-glucose. Our data indicate that the in vitro responses to lectins may differ among T cell subpopulations. Lectins may prove useful for investigating the nature of EAE-effector cells and the mechanisms of immune regulation in this autoimmune central nervous system disease.