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Myelin basic protein (MBP), a major myelin antigen, is considered a potential target of the immunopathologic process in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). MBP-specific T lymphocytes indeed mediate experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, the animal model of MS. Furthermore in vivo- activated T cell clones reactive to MBP were detected in the peripheral blood of patients, but not of healthy individuals (1). For these reasons the T cell response against this self-antigen is being extensively investigated in patients with MS.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS),1,2 characterized by infiltrating cells, predominantly T cells,3,4 in the sites of active demyelinization. In the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the majority of cells are CD4 T lymphocytes,5,6 while CD8 T cells are depressed during the acute phases, as well as in peripheral blood. Functional studies of CSF lymphocytes were hampered by the small number of cells available after lumbar puncture. In this study we established cloned T cell lines from the CSF of one MS patient to investigate their phenotype and functional capacities.