Aerts Nicolaas E, Dombrecht Evelyne J, Ebo Didier G, Bridts Chris H, Stevens Wim J, De Clerck Luc S
Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Antwerp, Belgium.
Cell Immunol. 2008 Feb;251(2):109-15. doi: 10.1016/j.cellimm.2008.04.008. Epub 2008 Jun 6.
Most cell surface markers for CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) are also expressed by activated non-regulatory T cells. Recently, CD127 down-regulation was found to identify functional Tregs in healthy individuals, but there are no data from patients with inflammatory conditions. We examined peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from rheumatoid arthritis patients with active inflammation and from healthy controls, and found that CD4(+) T cells contained an equal proportion of CD25(+)CD127(-)/low cells in both groups. In patients, not all these cells expressed intracellular FOXP3. Upon activation by anti-CD3/anti-CD28, PBMC rapidly down-regulated CD127, while FOXP3 up-regulation was transitory and occurred in fewer cells. The activated cells were not anergic to restimulation and had no suppressive effects. The distinct kinetics indicate that the FOXP3(-)CD127(-)/low cells in rheumatoid arthritis patients most likely represent activated non-regulatory T cells. This complicates the use of CD127 for identification of Tregs in inflammatory diseases.
大多数CD4(+)CD25(+)调节性T细胞（Tregs）的细胞表面标志物也可在活化的非调节性T细胞中表达。最近发现，CD127下调可识别健康个体中的功能性Tregs，但尚无炎症性疾病患者的数据。我们检测了活动期类风湿关节炎患者和健康对照者的外周血单个核细胞（PBMC），发现两组CD4(+) T细胞中CD25(+)CD127(-)/low细胞的比例相同。在患者中，并非所有这些细胞都表达细胞内FOXP3。经抗CD3/抗CD28激活后，PBMC迅速下调CD127，而FOXP3上调是短暂的，且发生在较少的细胞中。活化的细胞对再次刺激无反应，也无抑制作用。不同的动力学表明，类风湿关节炎患者中的FOXP3(-)CD127(-)/low细胞很可能代表活化的非调节性T细胞。这使得在炎症性疾病中使用CD127识别Tregs变得复杂。
