title: T cell infiltration and chemokine expression: relevance to the disease localization in murine graft-versus-host disease.
abstract: Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) involves mainly skin, liver and intestines. Other organs such as heart, muscle and central nervous system are seldom affected, although their parenchymal cells also express alloantigens, such as MHC class I antigens. The mechanism of this selective involvement of distinct organs in acute GVHD is not well understood. We postulated that it might be related to the selective migration of activated alloreactive T cells. Indeed, T cell infiltration, revealed by examination of serial samples using flow cytometry and immunohistology, occurred early and continuously in the target organs such as the liver, but not in a non-target organ, the heart, in a murine acute GVHD model. Since T cell migration is largely controlled by the expression of chemokine and chemokine receptors, we investigated the chemokine spectrum in target/non-target organs of mice with acute GVHD. We found that in the spleen and liver MIP-1alpha, MIP-2 and Mig were the predominant chemokines expressed. In another target organ, the skin, MIP-1alpha, MIP-2, MCP-1 and MCP-3 were all highly expressed. In a non-target organ of acute GVHD, the heart, the predominant chemokines expressed were MCP-1 and MCP-3. This distinct pattern of chemokine expression in these organs may contribute to the preferential recruitment of inflammatory cells into the liver and skin, but not into the heart, in acute GVHD.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Republic of Singapore.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: New
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Yap
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: H Z
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D054405:Chemokine CCL3; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D054410:Chemokine CCL7; D054426:Chemokine CXCL2; D054370:Chemokine CXCL9; D018925:Chemokines / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D019743:Chemokines, CXC / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D002634:Chemotaxis, Leukocyte / Q000502:physiology*; D016207:Cytokines; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018945:Monocyte Chemoattractant Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D009206:Myocardium / Q000737:chemistry; D009928:Organ Specificity; D012867:Skin / Q000737:chemistry; D013154:Spleen / Q000737:chemistry; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C515450:CCL7 protein, human; C080810:CXCL9 protein, human; C515451:Ccl7 protein, mouse; D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D054405:Chemokine CCL3; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D054410:Chemokine CCL7; D054426:Chemokine CXCL2; D054370:Chemokine CXCL9; D018925:Chemokines; D019743:Chemokines, CXC; C404915:Cxcl2 protein, mouse; D016207:Cytokines; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D019402:Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins; D018945:Monocyte Chemoattractant Proteins