title: CD25+CD127+Foxp3- Cells Represent a Major Subpopulation of CD8+ T Cells in the Eye Chambers of Normal Mice.
abstract: The aim of this study has been to determine whether eye chambers constitute part of the normal migratory pathway of naive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in mouse and if natural CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ and CD8+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells are present within these eye compartments. To this aim, the cells obtained from aqueous humor (AH) of normal mice were phenotyped in terms of the expression CD4, CD8, CD25, CD127 and transcription factor Foxp3. The mean percentage of CD8+ T cells in the total AH lymphocyte population was as high as 28.69%; the mean percentage of CD8high and CD8low cells in this population was 34.09% and 65.91%, respectively. The presence of cells with the regulatory phenotype, i.e. CD25+Foxp3+ cells, constituted only 0.32% of CD8+ T cell subset. Regarding the expression of CD25, AH CD8+ T cells were an exceptional population in that nearly 85% of these cells expressed this molecule without concomitant Foxp3 expression. Despite having this phenotype, they should not be viewed as activated cells because most of them co-expressed CD127, which indicates that they are naive lymphocytes. With regard to the markers applied in the present research, CD8+CD25+CD127+Foxp3- T cells represent the most numerous subset of AH CD8+ cells. The results suggest that eye chambers in mice are an element in the normal migratory pathway of naive CD8+ T cells. The study presented herein demonstrated only trace presence of CD4+ cells in the eye chambers, as the mean percentage of these cells was just 0.56. Such selective and specific homing of CD8+ and CD4+ cells to the eye chambers is most clearly engaged in the induction and maintenance of ocular immune privilege.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3807-0149
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maślanka
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ziółkowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland.
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ziółkowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Małaczewska
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001082:Aqueous Humor / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000378:metabolism*; D053699:Interleukin-7 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit; D053699:Interleukin-7 Receptor alpha Subunit