Expression of perforin and serine esterases by human gamma/delta T cells.
gamma/delta T cells have recently been described in association with a number of disorders, including autoimmune diseases. gamma/delta T cells are thought to play a cytotoxic role, but their mechanism of action is not known. Several granule mediators of cytotoxicity, including a pore-forming protein (perforin), and a family of serine esterases, have been isolated from cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells, and natural killer (NK) cells. We demonstrate here that gamma/delta T cells also express these mediators. Northern blots show that gamma/delta T cells express perforin, serine esterase 1 (SE 1), and SE 2. Three polyclonal antisera - raised against murine perforin, a peptide composed of amino acids 1-34 of human perforin, and human peforin expressed in bacteria - all reacted with a 70-kD protein in gamma/delta T cells on Western blots. Immunostaining with antiperforin antisera shows that primary gamma/delta T cells also contain perforin. Electron microscopy reveals that the granules of gamma/delta T cells resemble those of CTL, LAK, and NK cells. Gamma/delta T cells also resemble LAK cells in possessing inclusion bodies in their nuclei. These results imply that gamma/delta T cells resemble other cytolytic lymphocytes in their mechanism of action.
Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology, Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021.
H
H
Koizumi
C C
CC
Liu
L M
LM
Zheng
S V
SV
Joag
N K
NK
Bayne
J
J
Holoshitz
J D
JD
Young
D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000276:immunology; D015342:DNA Probes; D004950:Esterases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D054353:Perforin; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure
D015342:DNA Probes; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta; D054353:Perforin; D012313:RNA; D004950:Esterases; C022635:serine esterase