Oh Unsong, Grant Christian, Griffith Caitlin, Fugo Kazunori, Takenouchi Norihiro, Jacobson Steven
Viral Immunology Section, Neuroimmunology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
J Infect Dis. 2006 Jun 1;193(11):1557-66. doi: 10.1086/503874. Epub 2006 Apr 28.
The Foxp3 protein is a specific marker of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T (T(reg)) cells, and its expression is critical to their development and function. Several studies have demonstrated the dysregulation of Foxp3 expression during human inflammatory diseases. Infection with human T lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is associated with the development of a number of inflammatory conditions, including myelopathy, although the majority of individuals who are infected with HTLV-1 remain asymptomatic. To examine the role played by T(reg) cells in the development of inflammatory disease during HTLV-1 infection, we examined Foxp3 expression by flow cytometry. Our analysis showed that HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis was associated with a lower expression (compared with that in asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers and healthy donors) of Foxp3 in peripheral-blood leukocytes. In individuals infected with HTLV-1, Foxp3 expression was inversely correlated with HTLV-1 tax proviral DNA load. These results suggest that impaired Foxp3 expression may contribute to the development of inflammatory disease during HTLV-1 infection.
Foxp3蛋白是CD4(+)CD25(+)调节性T（T(reg)）细胞的特异性标志物，其表达对这些细胞的发育和功能至关重要。多项研究表明，在人类炎症性疾病中Foxp3表达失调。感染1型人类嗜T淋巴细胞病毒（HTLV-1）与多种炎症性疾病的发生有关，包括脊髓病，尽管大多数感染HTLV-1的个体仍无症状。为了研究T(reg)细胞在HTLV-1感染期间炎症性疾病发生中所起的作用，我们通过流式细胞术检测了Foxp3的表达。我们的分析表明，HTLV-1相关脊髓病/热带痉挛性截瘫与外周血白细胞中Foxp3表达较低（与无症状HTLV-1携带者和健康供体相比）有关。在感染HTLV-1的个体中，Foxp3表达与HTLV-1 tax前病毒DNA载量呈负相关。这些结果表明，Foxp3表达受损可能有助于HTLV-1感染期间炎症性疾病的发生。
