title: Characterization of γδ T cell subsets in organ transplantation.
abstract: γδ T cells are innate-type lymphocytes that preferentially act as regulators of local effector immune responses. Recent reports found an altered distribution of the two main subpopulations of blood γδ T cells (Vδ1 and Vδ2) in operationally tolerant liver transplant recipients. Based on this, γδ T cells subset quantification was proposed as a biomarker of immunologic risk in liver transplantation. The specific characteristics of γδ T cell subsets in transplantation remain however unknown. We have investigated here the phenotype, repertoire and functional properties of γδ T cell subsets in a large population of allograft recipients. Our results indicate that alterations in the γδ T cell compartment are not restricted to tolerant liver recipients. In fact, most immunosuppressed liver and kidney recipients also display an enlarged peripheral blood γδ T cell pool mainly resulting from an expansion of Vδ1 T cells exhibiting an oligoclonal repertoire and different phenotypic and cytokine production traits than Vδ2 T cells. We propose that persistent viral infections are likely to contribute to these alterations. Our data provide novel insight in the biology of γδ T cells and a rationale for exploring these lymphocytes in more depth into the pathogenesis of viral infections in transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Liver Unit, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBEREHD, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Puig-Pey
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bohne
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Benítez
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martínez-Llordella
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Oppenheimer
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lozano
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: González-Abraldes
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tisone
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rimola
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Fueyo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D046528:Chimerism; D022801:Complementarity Determining Regions / Q000235:genetics; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D023001:Transplantation Tolerance; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D022801:Complementarity Determining Regions; D016207:Cytokines; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta