More severe chronic phase experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis with altered T-lymphocyte distribution and increased demyelinating lesions in CXCR3-deficient mice

Chemokines and their receptors are intimately involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases of the CNS. The chemokine receptor CXCR3 is important for trafficking of activated T-cells and mediates the chemotactic properties of its ligands CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11. Although these chemokines are highly expressed in MS and the corresponding animal model EAE, their role in CNS autoimmune diseases is not well defined. In order to study the functional relevance of CXCR3 in autoimmune diseases of the CNS, we examined the course of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-induced EAE over 60 days in CXCR3 gene k…