Common features of gammadelta T cells and CD8(+) alphabeta T cells responding to human cytomegalovirus infection in kidney transplant recipients.
BACKGROUND
Kidney transplant recipients infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV) undergo a persistent gammadelta T cell expansion in their peripheral blood. The anti-CMV function of these cells was previously demonstrated by their ability to kill CMV-infected cells in vitro.


METHODS
To gain insight into the role of gammadelta T cells within the antiviral immune network, we compared the expansion kinetics of these T cells with that of CMV pp65-specific CD8(+) alphabeta T cells in the peripheral blood of twenty-one kidney transplant recipients.


RESULTS
Both the percentage and the absolute number of pp65-specific CD8(+) T cells and gammadelta T cells showed a concomitant increase and persistence in most of the kidney transplant recipients with CMV infection. Both cell subsets exhibited an effector/memory phenotype (CD28(-), CD27(-), and CD45RA(+)) that predominated for the entire follow-up period.


CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, CMV-specific CD8(+) alphabeta T cells and gammadelta T cells share common expansion kinetics and a common effector phenotype, suggesting that these cell types act similarly in response to CMV infection.
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
Lionel
L
Couzi
Vincent
V
Pitard
Sonia
S
Netzer
Isabelle
I
Garrigue
Marie-Edith
ME
Lafon
Jean-François
JF
Moreau
Jean-Luc
JL
Taupin
Pierre
P
Merville
Julie
J
Déchanet-Merville
D000328:Adult; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*