Do human Peyer's patches contribute to the intestinal intraepithelial gamma/delta T-cell population?
T-cell receptor gamma/delta+) (TcR gamma/delta+) lymphocytes in human Peyer's patches (PP) adjoining ileal mucosa were studied by monoclonal antibodies with paired immunofluorescence staining in situ and by flow-cytometric phenotyping of isolated cells. The proportion of gamma/delta+ T cells in the follicle-associated epithelium outside the M-cell areas (median 4.1%, range 2.2-30.1%) was similar to that in mucosal villous epithelium (median 4.4%, range 0.5-30.5%). Most intraepithelial gamma/delta cells (approximately 90%) expressed CD45R0 but only a few expressed CD8 (< 10%) and none L-selectin; a dominating subset (median 46%) employed the V delta 1/J delta 1 gene product (range 22-100%). The M-cell areas lacked gamma/delta cells but contained clustered CD20+ and CD3+ lymphocytes. The subepithelial PP dome area and interfollicular (T-cell) zones, as well as the mucosal lamina propria, contained very few gamma/delta cells (median 1.7%, range 0.4-8.9%) which were dominated (88-100%) by the V delta 2-encoded subset. Those in the dome area and lamina propria were often (approximately 75%) CD45R0+ (range 44-90%) while very few (approximately 2%) expressed L-selectin (range 0-15%). By contrast, CD45R0 expression on gamma/delta cells in the PP T-cell zones was relatively low (approximately 46%) and that of L-selectin relatively high (approximately 43%). In conclusion, TcR gamma/delta + cells are quite rare in human PP and belong mainly to the V delta 2-encoded subset, thus being different from most intraepithelial gamma/delta cells that probably have another origin. The L-selectin+ fraction of PP gamma/delta cells presumably represent newly recruited 'naive' T lymphocytes while CD45R0+ gamma/delta cells both in PP and lamina propria are probably antigen-primed.
Farstad
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IN
Laboratory for Immunohistochemistry and Immunopathology (LIIPAT), Institute of Pathology Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Halstensen
T S
TS
Fausa
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O
Brandtzaeg
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007082:Ileum / Q000166:cytology; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D007223:Infant; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000166:cytology*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008875:Middle Aged; D010581:Peyer's Patches / Q000166:cytology*; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta