title: Transfer of T cell surface molecules to dendritic cells upon CD4+ T cell priming involves two distinct mechanisms.
abstract: Activation of CD4(+) T cells by APCs occurs by multiple Ag recognition events including the exchange of costimulatory signals and cytokines. Additionally, the T cells acquire APC-derived surface molecules. Herein, we describe for the first time the transfer of human and murine T cell surface receptors to APCs after Ag-specific interaction. This transfer occurs in two qualitatively different phases. The first group of molecules (e.g., CD2) derived from the T cell surface was transferred rapidly after 2 h of interaction, was strongly bound on the DC surface (acid wash-resistant), was strictly dependent on dendritic cell-T cell contact, and transferred independently of T cell activation. The second group, including the CD3/TCR complex, CD27, and OX40, was of intracellular origin, transferred later after 10-16 h in a cell-cell contact-independent fashion, was noncovalently bound, and was strictly dependent on Ag-specific T cell activation. Functionally, murine dendritic cells that received TCR molecules from OVA-specific CD4(+) T cells after Ag-specific interaction were less efficient in priming naive CD4(+) T cells of the same specificity without losing their ability for CD8(+) T cell stimulation, indicating that the transferred TCR molecules mask the Ag-bearing MHC II molecules, thereby reducing their accessibility to following Ag-specific CD4(+) T cells. While the first group of transferred T cell surface molecules might facilitate the detachment of the CD4(+) T cell from the dendritic cell during the early scanning phases, the second group could play an important immunomodulatory role in intraclonal competition of T cells for APC access, making the physical presence of CD4(+) T cells unnecessary.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Medicine and Experimental Immunology (IMMEI), University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Quast
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Waldemar
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kolanus
authors.forename: Percy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Knolle
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Altevogt
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Limmer