Native myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein promotes severe chronic neurological disease and demyelination in Biozzi ABH mice

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) is a powerful encephalitogen for experimental autoimmune demyelination. However, the use of MOG peptides or recombinant proteins representing part of the protein fails to fully address the possible pathogenic role of the full‐length myelin‐derived protein expressing post‐translational modifications. Immunization of mice with central nervous system tissues from wild‐type (WT) and MOG‐deficient (MOG–/–) mice demonstrates that MOG in myelin is necessary for the development of chronic demyelinating experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in mice. While immunization with WT spinal cord homogenate (SCH) resulted in a progressive EAE phenotype, MOG–/– SCH induced a mild self‐limiting acute disease. Following acute EAE with MOG–/– SCH, mice developed T cell responses to recombinant mouse MOG (rmMOG), indicating that MOG released from myelin is antigenic; however, the lack of chronic disease indicates that such responses were not pathogenic. Chronic demyelinating EAE was observed when MOG–/– SCH was reconstituted with a dose of rmMOG comparable to MOG in myelin (2.5% of total white matter‐derived protein). These data reveal that while immunization with the full‐length post‐translational modified form of MOG in myelin promotes the development of a more chronic autoimmune demyelinating neurological disease, MOG (and/or other myelin proteins) released from myelin during ongoing disease do not induce destructive autoimmunity.