Authors | Seneviratne, Suranjith L., Black, Antony P., Jones, Louise, Di Gleria, Kati, Bailey, Abigail S. and Ogg, Graham S. |
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Abstract | Summary Despite strong evidence supporting a pathway of human T cell differentiation characterized by changes in the expression of CCR7, CD28, CD27 and CD62L, few studies have addressed the mechanisms of pathway regulation. Cutaneous lymphocyte-associated antigen (CLA)-positive skin-homing CD8+ T cells expressed significantly elevated levels of activation markers compared with CLA− CD8+ T cells in individuals (n = 27) with cutaneous atopic disease. Despite such an activated phenotype, CLA+ T cells expressed significantly higher levels of CCR7 than a CLA− T cell subset. Interleukin (IL)-4 was found to dramatically promote CCR7 expression by antigen-specific CD8+ cells. Furthermore, skin-homing CD8+ T cells from individuals with severe disease produced significantly less IL-10 than those derived from mildly affected atopic subjects. Thus in a T-helper 2 dominated disease, tissue-specific CD8+ T cells show altered CCR7 expression and cytokine production, which may contribute to continued lymph node homing, antigen presentation and disease. IL-4 promotes expression of CCR7, a marker linked to existing models of CD8+ T cell differentiation. |
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