Lohman B L, Miller C J, McChesney M B
California Regional Primate Research Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis 95616, USA.
J Immunol. 1995 Dec 15;155(12):5855-60.
The mucosal immune system of the female reproductive tract is of central importance for protection against sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV; however, this arm of the immune system remains poorly understood. Antiviral CTL responses never have been documented in the genital tract and the role of CTL in this anatomic site is unknown. In this study, CD8+ intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) in the vaginas of six simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected female rhesus macaques were identified by immunohistochemistry to be CD2+ and TCR beta-chain+. In addition, the majority of CD8+ IEL contained TIA-1+ cytoplasmic granules that are associated with CTL activity. CD8+ T cells were isolated from the vaginal epithelium and submucosa and amplified by limiting dilution in the presence of feeder cells. SIV p55gag and/or gp160env-specific lysis was detected in cultures of vaginal epithelial but not submucosal CD8+ T lymphocytes. Estimated SIV-specific precursor CTL frequencies were higher in the vaginal CD8+ IEL population of chronically infected monkeys than in the same cells from acutely infected monkeys or a naive control monkey. These results provide the first demonstration that antiviral CTL are present in the vaginal epithelium, and suggest that a vaccine may be able to generate anti-HIV CTL in the genital mucosa.
女性生殖道的黏膜免疫系统对于预防包括艾滋病病毒（HIV）在内的性传播疾病至关重要；然而，人们对这一免疫系统分支的了解仍然有限。抗病毒细胞毒性T淋巴细胞（CTL）反应从未在生殖道中得到证实，CTL在这个解剖部位的作用尚不清楚。在本研究中，通过免疫组织化学鉴定，6只感染猿猴免疫缺陷病毒（SIV）的雌性恒河猴阴道中的CD8 +上皮内淋巴细胞（IEL）为CD2 +和TCRβ链阳性。此外，大多数CD8 + IEL含有与CTL活性相关的TIA-1 +细胞质颗粒。从阴道上皮和黏膜下层分离出CD8 + T细胞，并在饲养细胞存在的情况下通过有限稀释进行扩增。在阴道上皮而非黏膜下层的CD8 + T淋巴细胞培养物中检测到SIV p55gag和/或gp160env特异性裂解。慢性感染猴的阴道CD8 + IEL群体中估计的SIV特异性前体CTL频率高于急性感染猴或未感染对照猴相同细胞中的频率。这些结果首次证明抗病毒CTL存在于阴道上皮中，并表明疫苗可能能够在生殖黏膜中产生抗HIV CTL。
