Apasov S, Sitkovsky M
Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Apr 1;90(7):2837-41. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.7.2837.
Targeted disruption of the beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) gene results in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I deficiency and virtual disappearance of functional CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in beta 2m-deficient (beta 2m-/-) mice. We asked whether the beta 2m-/- mice are able to reject tumor cells injected i.p. and what is the cellular composition of peritoneal exudate leukocytes (PELs) from such mice. We found that beta 2m-/- mice do reject MHC class I-bearing tumor cells injected i.p. Surprisingly, analysis of PEL CTLs obtained from i.p. tumor-injected beta 2m -/- mice revealed the presence of a large proportion of functional, tumor-destroying CD8+, CD4-, alpha beta T-cell receptor-positive, CD3+, Thy-1+, MHC class I-negative CTLs with strong MHC class I-directed cytotoxic activity. These results call for careful studies of local accumulation of CD8+ CTLs in beta 2m -/- mouse models and suggest that the dramatic decrease in MHC class I expression caused by beta 2m gene disruption does not prevent CD8+/CD4- cell selection and expansion.
β2微球蛋白(β2m)基因的靶向破坏导致主要组织相容性复合体(MHC)I类缺陷,且β2m缺陷(β2m-/-)小鼠体内功能性CD8+细胞毒性T淋巴细胞(CTL)几乎消失。我们探究了β2m-/-小鼠是否能够排斥腹腔注射的肿瘤细胞,以及此类小鼠腹腔渗出液白细胞(PEL)的细胞组成情况。我们发现β2m-/-小鼠确实能够排斥腹腔注射的携带MHC I类的肿瘤细胞。令人惊讶的是,对腹腔注射肿瘤的β2m-/-小鼠的PEL CTL分析显示,存在很大比例具有功能、可破坏肿瘤的CD8+、CD4-、αβT细胞受体阳性、CD3+、Thy-1+、MHC I类阴性的CTL,它们具有很强的MHC I类定向细胞毒性活性。这些结果要求对β2m-/-小鼠模型中CD8+ CTL的局部聚集进行仔细研究,并表明β2m基因破坏导致的MHC I类表达显著降低并不妨碍CD8+/CD4-细胞的选择和扩增。