Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 is necessary but not sufficient to activate CD4+ T cells. Discovery of a novel costimulator on kidney tubule cells.

Kidney tubule cells (KTC) are targets of T lymphocyte injury during allograft rejection and interstitial nephritis. KTC process and present self- and foreign Ags for immune recognition by CD4+ T cells in vivo and in vitro. However, it is not known whether KTC can provide the costimulatory signal required to fully activate CD4+ T cells. Using the MRL/MpJ fas model of lupus interstitial nephritis, we found that KTC did not express the costimulators B7-1 or B7-2. Nevertheless, KTC from both normal and systemically infected mice provided non-B7 costimulation to splenic CD4+ T cells. T cell proliferation was blocked by mAbs binding intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) but not by mAb or fusion proteins binding B7-1, B7-2, heat-stable Ag, or vascular cell adhesion molecule-1. Importantly, ICAM-1 expression was necessary but not sufficient to provide costimulation. The transformed KTC line D3.B7- expressed high levels of ICAM-1 but did not provide costimulation. Interestingly, KTC provided costimulation to splenic T cells but not to a Th1 clone. These results show that freshly isolated KTC can provide non-B7 costimulation to splenic T cells via an unidentified costimulator and ICAM-1. Furthermore, these experiments demonstrate the complex nature of T cell activation and show that at least for splenic T cells, three or more signals may be required for full activation on live APC.