| Interleukin-4 promotes human CD8+ T cell expression of CCR7 | |||||||||||||
Abstract | |||||||||||||
| 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. | |||||||||||||
Publication details | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||