V delta 1+ gamma/delta T lymphocytes infiltrating human lung cancer express the CD8 alpha/alpha homodimer.
Murine gamma/delta T lymphocytes localize to different epithelial tissues and are phenotypically distinct from peripheral gamma/delta T cell-populations in that they show limited TCR diversity, express the CD8 alpha/alpha homodimer and lack the CD8 beta chain. In humans, a compartmentalization of gamma/delta cells sharing similar phenotypic features has been documented to date only in the case of intestinal epithelium. In the present study we show that about half of V delta 1+ (as well as V delta 1-V delta 2-) gamma/delta lymphocytes, which can be selectively expanded from human lung cancers, coexpress the CD8 alpha/alpha homodimer. The accumulation of intraepithelial CD8+ gamma/delta+ lymphocytes might then be a more general phenomenon, possibly as a result of common mechanisms operating at those sites.
Ferrarini
M
M
Istituto Scientifico San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.
Heltai
S
S
Chiesa
G
G
Sabbadini
M G
MG
D000818:Animals; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002634:Chemotaxis, Leukocyte; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*
D016827:CD8 Antigens; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta