title: Impairment of gamma/delta T lymphocytes in elderly: implications for immunosenescence.
abstract: Gamma/delta T lymphocytes cells recognize the antigen in a non-classical way and are considered the third branch of the immune system devoted to defend the integrity of the body. Ageing is characterized by an impairment of the main way of protection (the adaptive branch) but, successfully aged people show compensatory mechanisms of defense such as proneness to inflammation. Moreover, very old subjects show an increased number of NK cells. We have previously demonstrated that gamma delta T lymphocytes are reduced in elderly. In the present paper we have studied some characteristics of these cells to evaluate the possibility that these cells might balance the decreased action of the adaptive branch in successfully aged people. Cytofluorimetric analysis of cells collected from young, old and centenarian subjects has been used to evaluate the ability of these cells to expand in vitro. Here we demonstrate that gamma delta T cells are impaired in the ability to proliferate to different stimuli such as isopentenyl pyrophoshate, that select gamma delta T lymphocytes bearing delta 2 chain, other than to phytohemagglutinin and anti-CD3 that are polyclonal activators. Moreover, we demonstrate that gamma delta T cells in aged and centenarians show an enhanced sensitivity to undergo apoptosis induced both by alpha-Fas and TNF-alpha. All together these data suggest that gamma delta T lymphocytes are impaired in elderly and suggest that the reduced ability to proliferate and the reduced number of circulating gamma delta T lymphocytes is due to the proneness to apoptosis. Finally on the basis of these data, we conclude that gamma delta T lymphocytes, do not participate in the remodeling of the immune system due to the reduction of classical T cell response and replacement by NK cells in elderly.
authors.affiliation: Gruppo di Studio sull'Imunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Metodologie Biomediche, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Corso Tukory, 211, 90134 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Colonna-Romano
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aquino
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bulati
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lio
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Candore
authors.forename: Gioacchino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oddo
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scialabba
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vitello
authors.forename: Calogero
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caruso
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000502:physiology; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000032:analysis*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta