signature=6e6c57de52fb2e783099063742cd83d6,An approach to the immunophenotypic signature of selected...

摘要：

Background. Why do some CD4+ T cells exhibit cytotoxic behavior? This has been an important question resolved, in part, by the fact that these cells express the activating immunoreceptor NKG2D, which has traditionally been restricted to NK and CD8+ T cells. Contradictory evidence has tagged, however, this particular population with an immuno-suppressive role in cancer patients. These apparently confounding data have led to the proposal that two different CD4+NKG2D+ T cell subsets might be operating. Currently, there is still a poor immunophenotype description of these cells. Objective. To better characterize the phenotype expressed by the CD4+NKG2D+ T cell subset in healthy volunteers. Methods. Multicolor flow cytometry was used for exploration of TCRalpha/beta, CD28, CD158b, CD45RO, HLA-DR, CD161, and CD107a on gated CD3+CD4+NKG2D+ T cells. ELISA was used to quantify TNF-alpha, IL-15, IL-10 and IFN-gamma. Results. The gated CD3+CD4+NKG2D+ T cell subset effectively defines a "classical" population of TCRalpha/beta-expressing CD4+ T cells in healthy individuals (n=30), which is not higher than 3% of the total CD3+CD4+ T population. The expression of CD45RO suggests a memory and/or activated state. The activating markers HLA-DR, CD161, and CD107a were heterogeneously expressed. The costimulatory receptor CD28 was also expressed on this subset. Interestingly, five individuals showed an increased number of CD3+CD4+NKG2D+ T cells, which were mostly negative for both CD28 and activating markers. Conclusions. The present results reveal the existence of two separate CD4+NKG2D+ T cell subsets defined by the coexpression or absence of CD28, which might indicate a functional dichotomy within this particular subset.

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