title: Fibroblasts prevent apoptosis of IL-2-deprived T cells without inducing proliferation: a selective effect on Bcl-XL expression.
abstract: The apoptosis of human cytokine-deprived activated T cells can be prevented by a soluble mediator secreted by fibroblasts, epithelial and endothelial cells, and this rescue occurs with fibroblasts from different species. Fractionation of W138 fibroblast-conditioned medium indicated that the survival-promoting agent(s) were > 30,000 MW. The continuous presence of the survival factor was required for prevention of apoptosis, which did not involve the induction of proliferation. Nevertheless, the co-cultured T cells remained in a primed state. The expression of the apoptosis-inducing proteins Bax and CD95 (Fas/Apo-1) was either unchanged or slightly increased in fibroblast-rescued T cells, suggesting that constraints on survival still existed after co-culture. A fundamental observation in the present study was that although Bcl-2 was reduced, the levels of Bcl-XL was maintained in cytokine-deprived T cells by fibroblast co-culture. This suggests that fibroblasts and/or other stromal cells may promote activated T-cell survival by a selective effect on Bcl-XL expression, which is consistent with histological examination of activated T cells within lymphoid tissue in vivo. The rescued T cell could be re-activated by CD3 antibody, but only in the presence of CD28 co-stimulation, which induced both Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL expression and also proliferation. Thus, survival signals from stromal cells in tissue microenvironments may enable activated T-cell persistence in a primed but quiescent state, and our data suggest that the regulation of Bcl-XL expression may be central in this process. The further characterization of this process is essential to clarify how signals from stromal cells can influence the resolution and/or chronicity of immune responses in different tissues in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology, Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gombert
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Borthwick
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hyde
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bofill
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pilling
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Beverley
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Janossy
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salmon
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Akbar
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000276:immunology; D002460:Cell Line; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000276:immunology*; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D051020:bcl-X Protein; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C494811:BCL2L1 protein, human; D007376:Interleukin-2; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051020:bcl-X Protein; D019014:fas Receptor; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens