Human afferent lymph from normal skin contains an increased number of mainly memory / effector CD4+ T cells expressing activation, adhesion and co-stimulatory molecules
✍ Scribed by Nikhil Yawalkar; Robert E. Hunger; Werner J. Pichler; Lasse R. Braathen; Christoph U. Brand
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2000
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 204 KB
- Volume
- 30
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0014-2980
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✦ Synopsis
We investigated the T cell population in the afferent lymph and the peripheral blood with regard to expression of activation, adhesion and co-stimulatory molecules and cytokine profile by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. The majority of the lymphoid cell population in the afferent lymph were CD4 + , CD45RO + T cells expressing the § g TCR. An increased percentage of the T cells expressed activation molecules like HLA-DR, CD25, CD26, CD69 as well as adhesion and co-stimulatory molecules like CD54, CD154/40 ligand. Furthermore, T cells in the afferent lymph predominantly expressed the type 1 cytokine IFN-+ , whereas type 2 cytokines such as IL-4, IL-5, IL-10 were not or barely detectable. Interestingly, dendritic cells expressing IL-12 were also found in close association with some lymphocytes, indicating that these contacts may be important in promoting Th 1 cells. In conclusion, an increased number of mainly CD4 + memory/effector T cells, expressing activation, adhesion and co-stimulatory molecules migrate through the afferent skin-derived lymph in humans. Furthermore, our data demonstrate the dominance of a type 1 cytokine profile in these T cells and suggest that they have an important function in the immune surveillance against pathogens or other antigens in the skin and its associated lymphoid tissue.