title: A novel pattern of pp65-positive cytomegalic endothelial cells circulating in peripheral blood from a renal transplant recipient.
abstract: The present study reports a novel pattern of cytomegalic endothelial cells (CEC) in peripheral blood from a female renal transplant recipient infected with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), which has not been reported previously. Localization of specific early antigen of HCMV, pp65 antigen, was examined by immunohistochemistry. Staining of an endothelial cell marker (CD34) was used to characterize endothelial cells. It is demonstrated that many leukocytes surrounded and adhered to a protein-like material, in which pp65-positive CEC were detected. The composition and function of this protein-like material are yet unknown. The patient lacked clinical symptoms of HCMV disease. Furthermore, similar localization patterns were found in other renal transplant recipients suffering from HCMV infections as determined by real-time PCR to detect HCMV DNA in blood. These patients showed no or only minor clinical symptoms of HCMV infection. It is suggested that these novel localization patterns of CEC may play a role in the host defense in patients infected with HCMV, but the exact relation between HCMV infection and CEC formation needs further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive laboratory, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Suzhou University, Changzhou 213003, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Guanghua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Xiaozhou
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Xianlin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jinsheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nilsson-Ehle
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; C065418:cytomegalovirus matrix protein 65kDa