Characteristics of Prevotella intermedia-specific CD4+ T cell clones from peripheral blood of a chronic adult periodontitis patient.
Periodontitis is a chronic destructive inflammatory disease associated with periodontopathic bacteria. In addition, autoantigens such as collagen and heat shock proteins (hsp) have been suggested to play a role. Established periodontal lesions are characterized by dense infiltrations of immune cells such as cytokine-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. CD4+ T cells specific for Prevotella intermedia can be isolated from lesional gingiva, suggesting an active role for CD4+ T cells in the response to this bacterium. We therefore investigated the characteristics of a panel of 13 P. intermedia-specific CD4+ T cells generated from the peripheral blood of a patient with chronic adult periodontitis. All 13 P. intermedia-specific CD4+ T cells recognized the antigens in the context of HLA-DR. The T cell clones were mainly classified as Th0, producing comparable amounts of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and IL-4, and Th2, producing high amounts of IL-4 and almost no IFN-gamma. None of the P. intermedia-specific T cell clones recognized antigens of the periodontopathic bacteria Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis and of the autoantigens collagen and hsp. The reactivity profile of the T cell clones to size-fractionated cell envelope antigens of P. intermedia indicated that P. intermedia-specific CD4+ T cell clones recognize probably five different antigen specificities in the context of the MHC class II molecules, DR7 or DR15. These results suggest that a broad panel of cell-associated protein antigens play a role in the induction of P. intermedia-specific CD4+ T cell response.
Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
A
A
Wassenaar
C
C
Reinhardus
L
L
Abraham-Inpijn
A
A
Snijders
F
F
Kievits
D000328:Adult; D016866:Bacteroidaceae Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002908:Chronic Disease; D002999:Clone Cells / Q000276:immunology; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D059810:HLA-DR Serological Subtypes; D015809:HLA-DR7 Antigen / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D018713:Prevotella intermedia
D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D059810:HLA-DR Serological Subtypes; C106559:HLA-DR15 antigen; D015809:HLA-DR7 Antigen