Different expression of E-cadherin by two cutaneous gamma/delta TcR+ T-cell subsets, V gamma 5- and V gamma 5+ gamma/delta TcR+ T cells.
Recently we have demonstrated that, besides V gamma 5+ gamma/delta TcR+ T cells (V gamma 5+ gamma/delta T cells), V gamma 5- gamma/delta TcR+ T cells (V gamma 5- gamma/delta T cells) are also present in murine skin. In the present study, to characterize the functional differences between these two different cutaneous gamma/delta T cells we examined the expression pattern of E-cadherin and its two integrins. After co-culturing of Ly-5+ epidermal cells and migrating cells from organ-cultured murine skin with cutaneous stromal cells, we could expand V gamma 5+ gamma/delta T cells and V gamma 5- gamma/delta T cells, respectively. Flow cytometry demonstrated that cultured V gamma 5+ gamma/delta T cells expressed E-cadherin, but V gamma 5- gamma/delta T cells did not. This difference in E-cadherin expression was also observed in freshly isolated V gamma 5+ and V gamma 5- gamma/delta T cells. On the other hand, both V gamma 5+ and V gamma 5- gamma/delta T cells expressed the alpha chain of the vitronectin receptor, but did not express the alpha 4 integrin. Of these two cutaneous gamma/delta T cells, only V gamma 5+ gamma/delta T cells adhered to murine keratinocyte cell line, PAM 212 cells. Unexpectedly, however, the adhesion of E-cadherin-expressing V gamma 5+ gamma/delta T cells to PAM 212 cells was not inhibited by anti-E-cadherin antibody, which effectively abrogated the adhesion of Langerhans cells to PAM 212 cells. These distinct phenotypic and functional characteristics in the sub-sets of cutaneous gamma/delta T cells may suggest that they reside in different locations in the skin to play different functional roles in skin immunophysiology.
Aiba
S
S
Department of Dermatology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
Nakagawa
S
S
Ozawa
H
H
Tagami
H
H
D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002460:Cell Line; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000378:metabolism*; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology
D015820:Cadherins; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta