Inducible Co-Stimulator Null MRL-Fas lpr Mice

MRL/MpJ-Tnfrsf6lpr (MRL-Faslpr) mice develop a spontaneous T cell-dependent autoimmune disease that shares features with human lupus, including fatal nephritis, systemic pathology, and autoantibodies (autoAb). The inducible co-stimulator (ICOS) is upregulated on activated T cells and modulates T cell-mediated responses. To investigate whether ICOS has an essential role in regulating autoimmune lupus nephritis and the systemic illness in MRL-Faslpr mice, ICOS null (-/-) MRL Faslpr and ICOS intact (+/+) MRL-Faslpr strains (wild-type [WT]) were generated and compared. It was determined that in ICOS-/- MRL-Faslpr as compared with the WT strain, (1) there is a significant reduction in circulatin…