title: Granulysin in human serum as a marker of cell-mediated immunity.
abstract: Granulysin is a cytolytic granule protein of natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) with a broad range of antimicrobial and tumoricidal activities. Two molecular forms of granulysin, the 15-kDa precursor and 9-kDa mature form, are produced in these cells. In this study, we developed monoclonal antibodies against granulysin and found that the 15-kDa granulysin is spontaneously secreted by peripheral blood NK and T cells via a non-granule exocytotic pathway. When NK cells killed the target cells, the released granulysin levels in culture supernatants significantly increased through the granule exocytosis. The granulysin protein was found in the sera of healthy individuals at an average concentration of 3.7 +/- 3.2 ng/ml (age 0-99 years, n=244). The serum levels of granulysin were transiently highly elevated among patients with acute viral infections. In addition, the serum granulysin levels in patients with severe immunodeficiency treated bycell therapy fluctuated proportionately to the improvement of other immunological parameters. Our results suggest that granulysin is well associated with diverse activities of NK cells and CTL in physiological and pathological settings and could be a useful novel serum marker to evaluate the overall status of host cellular immunity.
authors.affiliation: R&D Center, BML, 1361-1 Matoba, Kawagoe, Saitama 350-1101, Japan. ogawa-kz@alk.co.jp
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takamori
authors.forename: Kunou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagasawa
authors.forename: Shoichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.forename: Yoshihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kasahara
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Shigemi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugamura
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Kinya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagata
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D007223:Infant; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D015415:Biomarkers; C075005:GNLY protein, human