High expression of CD244 and SAP regulated CD8 T cell responses of patients with HTLV-I associated neurologic disease.

HTLV-I-specific CD8(+) T cells have been characterized with high frequencies in peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid and production of proinflammatory cytokines, which contribute to central nervous system inflammation in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). However, little is known about the differences in CD8(+) T cell activation status between asymptomatic carrier (ACs) and patients with HAM/TSP. The expression of CD244, a signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) family receptor, was significantly higher on CD8(+) T cells in HTLV-I-infected patients, both ACs and patients with HAM/TSP, than those on healthy normal donors (NDs). Blockade of CD244 inhibited degranulation and IFN-gamma production in CD8(+) T cells of patients with HAM/TSP, suggesting that CD244 is associated with effector functions of CD8(+) T cells in patients with HAM/TSP. Moreover, SLAM-associated protein (SAP) was overexpressed in patients with HAM/TSP compared to ACs and NDs. SAP expression in Tax-specific CTLs was correlated in the HTLV-I proviral DNA loads and the frequency of the cells in HTLV-I-infected patients. SAP knockdown by siRNA also inhibited IFN-gamma production in CD8(+) T cells of patients with HAM/TSP. Thus, the CD244/SAP pathway was involved in the active regulation of CD8(+) T cells of patients with HAM/TSP, and may play roles in promoting inflammatory neurological disease.

Abstract licence: CC BY

• The Emerging Role of CD244 Signaling in Immune Cells of the Tumor Microenvironment · 2018

• T cell exhaustion: from pathophysiological basics to tumor immunotherapy · 2017

• Telomere Dynamics in Immune Senescence and Exhaustion Triggered by Chronic Viral Infection · 2017

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.