Lack of junctional adhesion molecule (JAM)-B ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

•In the CNS, JAM-B expression is restricted to endothelial cells.•JAM-B is not required for BBB integrity at the level of tight junctions.•Absence of JAM-B ameliorates clinical signs of actively induced EAE.•JAM-B is not expressed on mouse myeloid cells.•During EAE, lack of JAM-B results in immune cell trapping mainly in leptomeninges. In multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) autoaggressive CD4+ T cells cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and cause neuroinflammation. Therapeutic targeting of CD4+ T-cell trafficking into the CNS by blocking α4-integrins has proven beneficial for the treatment of MS but comes with associated risks, probably due to blocking CD8+ T cell mediated CNS immune surveillance. Our recent observations show that CD8+ T cells also rely on α4β1-integrins to cross the BBB. Besides vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), we identified junctional adhesion molecule-B (JAM-B) as a novel vascular α4β1-integrin ligand involved in CD8+ T-cell migration across the BBB. This prompted us to investigate, if JAM-B also mediates CD4+ T-cell migration across the BBB. We first ensured that encephalitogenic T cells can bind to JAM-B in vitro and next compared EAE pathogenesis in JAM-B−/− C57BL/6J mice and their wild-type littermates. Following immunization with MOGaa35-55 peptide, JAM-B−/− mice developed ameliorated EAE compared to their wild-type littermates. At the same time, we isolated higher numbers of CD45+ infiltrating immune cells from the CNS of JAM-B−/− C57BL/6J mice suffering from EAE. Immunofluorescence staining revealed that the majority of CD45+ inflammatory cells accumulated in the leptomeningeal and perivascular spaces of the CNS behind the BBB but do not gain access to the CNS parenchyma. Trapping of CNS inflammatory cells was not due to increased inflammatory cell proliferation. Neither a loss of BBB integrity or BBB polarity potentially affecting local chemokine gradients nor a lack of focal gelatinase activation required for CNS parenchymal immune cell entry across the glia limitans could be detected in JAM-B−/− mice. Lack of a role for JAM-B in the effector phase of EAE was supported by the observation that we did not detect any role for JAM-B in EAE pathogenesis, when EAE was elicited by in vitro activated MOG aa35-55-specific CD4+ effector T cells. On the other hand, we also failed to demonstrate any role of JAM-B in in vivo priming, proliferation or polarization of MOGaa35