No Evidence for an Immunological Cross-Reaction between Encephalitogenic Myelin Basic Protein and Histones

Abstract

An immunological cross-reaction between histones and the encephalitogenic myelin basic protein (MBP) of brain white matter has been discussed repeatedly. The binding ability of the histones Fl, F2a1, F2a2, F2b and F3, isolated from calf thymus, and of the F2c fraction of chicken erythrocytes to antibodies against human MBP was examined using a radioimmunological technique with high sensitivity. There was no evidence for any immunological cross-reaction between these closely related basic proteins, neither by the direct binding test of labelled histones to the antibodies to MBP, nor by the binding inhibition test of MBP to its antibodies in presence of excessive amounts of histones.