Expression of different CD8 isoforms on distinct human lymphocyte subpopulations.

Human CD8+ lymphocyte subpopulations were analyzed for their expression of CD8 alpha and CD8 beta subunits. Investigations with uncloned peripheral blood lymphocytes as well as cloned human natural killer and T cell subpopulations demonstrate that CD3- natural killer cells, T cell receptor gamma/delta, and CD4+CD8+ T cell clones express exclusively CD8 alpha gene products. Structural analysis of CD8 molecules demonstrates that CD8 alpha+/beta- T lymphocytes surface express 75-kDa CD8 alpha/alpha homodimers whereas CD8 alpha/beta lymphocytes express concomittantly two CD8 isoforms of different molecular masses (67 kDa and 75 kDa, respectively). Peptide mapping of these latter two isoforms suggests that CD8 is expressed as alpha/alpha homodimers and alpha/beta heterodimers on CD8 alpha/beta+ cells. Importantly, we found that the two CD8 isoforms behave functionally different. Thus, in contrast to CD8 alpha/beta+/CD8 alpha/alpha+ T lymphocytes, cytolytic activity of CD8 alpha/beta-/CD8 alpha/alpha+ T cell clones was not inhibited by anti-CD8 monoclonal antibodies and the latter were not induced to proliferate following CD3/CD8 cross-linking.     

Subpopulations of human peripheral T gamma delta lymphocytes

In the search for the genes encoding the alpha and beta chains of the T-cell receptor, Tonegawa et al. discovered a third class of rearranging T-cell specific genes. This finding led them to postulate the existence of additional forms of T-cell receptors. In this article, Frédéric Tribel and Thierry Hercend briefly discuss recent results, which may help in the delineation of human peripheral blood gamma delta+ subsets based on the molecular structure of this receptor.     

A novel subset of human lymphocytes with a T cell receptor-gamma complex

We have previously characterized a CD3+ T cell receptor (TCR) alpha/beta- human fetal cloned cell line, termed F6C7, which surface-expresses a CD3-associated gamma chain identified by anti-NKFi, an mAb with a restricted clonotypic reactivity. Here, we have produced an additional antibody, anti-Ti-gamma A, which recognizes a public epitope of the gamma molecule defined by anti-NKFi. Ti-gamma A is present on approximately 3% of circulating lymphocytes with a wide range (1-15%) among 30 healthy individuals tested. Two-color immunofluorescence experiments performed with anti-Ti-gamma A and BMA 031 mAb (a reagent specific for the TCR-alpha/beta receptor) showed that surface expression of Ti-alpha/beta and Ti-gamma A is mutually exclusive. Moreover, it was found that most Ti-gamma A+ cells are CD2+, CD3+, CD4-, CD5+, NKH1-, HLA class II-negative. In contrast, the expression of the CD8 molecule on these T lymphocytes appears to be variable from one individual to another. Finally, we found that Ti-gamma A+ cells represent a majority of peripheral lymphocytes that express CD3 proteins but not the TCR-alpha/beta heterodimer. The delineation of this unique lymphocyte subset should help further studies on the biology of cells with a CD3-associated gamma complex.     

Functional and phenotypic studies of Japanese adult T cell leukemia cells.

The cell surface marker profile and functional analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes from 11 Japanese adult T cell leukemia patients were studied. The phenotypic analysis of Japanese adult T cell leukemia (ATL) cells by a series of 13 monoclonal antibodies showed that all ATL cells are anti-T4 reactive but some differ in their expression of T3, T11, and T12 antigens. Thus, considerable phenotypic heterogeneity exists in these populations of leukemia cells. When analyzed in functional assays, ATL cells were suppressive when added to a pokeweed mitogen- (PWM) driven Ig synthesis system. However, the suppression mechanism seemed to be more complex than originally conceived. ATL cells examined in this study seem to function mainly as an inducer of suppressor cells, and as such, activate normal T8 precursors of suppressor cells rather than function as suppressor effector cells. In addition, no evidence was obtained to suggest that suppression of PWM-stimulated IgG synthesis was mediated by natural killer (NK) activity of ATL cells. Rather, ATL cells seem to be markedly deficient in NK activity. These studies suggest that the majority of ATL cells tested are representative of and seem to be the leukemic counterparts of the T4+ suppressor inducer subset.     

Prominent expansion of circulating lymphocytes bearing gamma T-cell receptors, with preferential expression of variable gamma genes after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

The presence of two distinct T-cell receptors (TCR) alpha/beta dimers or gamma/delta dimers, was systematically analyzed in peripheral blood lymphocytes form 26 recipients of allogeneic bone marrow transplants for leukemia. When using monoclonal antibody WT31, which recognizes a common epitope on the alpha/beta heterodimer, the expansion of peripheral CD3+, WT31- cells to 40% of the PBLSs was detected in two patients. In patient 2, the presence of circulating TCR gamma-bearing cells was directly demonstrated with monoclonal antibody Ti gamma A directed against the V gamma 9 J gamma p gene products. From CD3, WT31- clones derived from patients 1 and 2, sequential immunoprecipitations were performed with anti-CD3 and anti-C gamma to determine the CD3- associated structure. Molecular weights of gamma subunits were different in both patients, thus indicating structural heterogeneity. The ability of TCR gamma clones to proliferate when stimulated with anti-CD3 beads was observed for clones from patient 2, whereas this response required exogenous interleukin-2 for clones from patient 1. We have already shown that the TCR gamma cells from patient 1 might have played a role in the immunodeficient state. Similar conclusions cannot be drawn from patient 2. Southern blot analysis of total PBL gamma cell lines and clones indicated that this major circulating subset of TCR gamma cells retained a TCR beta gene in germline configuration and preferentially expressed a single V gamma gene, V gamma 5 for patient 1 and V gamma 9 for patient 2.     

Short-term culture of acute myeloid leukemia blasts: analysis of acquired susceptibility to activated natural killer cells

Following a cryopreservation step, short-term cultures of circulating leukemic blasts from a patient with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were performed. Because cultured tumor cells became susceptible to natural killer (NK) activity, in vitro alteration of the blasts was studied. Immediately after thawing, cell suspensions consisted of a relatively homogeneous population of undifferentiated blasts. In culture, tritiated thymidine uptake by the leukemic cells was low during the first 24 hours and then increased (X20) to a peak on day 7. The cell concentration started to increase on day 4. On day 8, less than 10% of the cultured cells still appeared as undifferentiated blasts, whereas up to 60% were granular and 30% to 40% had a monocytoid morphology. Prior to being cultured, the blasts were resistant to resting and IL2- activated natural killing. When the kinetics of in vitro acquired susceptibility were studied, it was found that maximum cytotoxicity against these leukemic cells was reached within 24 hours. Thus, the blasts had become NK-sensitive prior to increase in DNA synthesis, proliferation, and differentiation based on morphological and cytochemical criteria. In contrast, there was a positive correlation between acquired susceptibility and surface expression of an activation antigen, termed TNKtar. To dissect further the mechanisms of acquired susceptibility, a series of six NK clones representing four distinct phenotypes of NK active lymphocytes were tested against the leukemic cells. Immediately after thawing, blasts were essentially resistant to all clones, whereas they were strongly killed by 5 of 6 clones when cultured for 24 hours. Cold target inhibition assays indicated that resistance of fresh blasts was likely to be due to a binding defect. These results suggested that tumor cells became susceptible because they surface-expressed NK target structure(s) in the early phase of an activation process leading to their proliferation and/or differentiation. This hypothesis was substantiated for one clone, termed JT9, because the anti-TNKtar antibody blocked cytotoxicity of JT9 cells against the cultured blasts.     

In vitro responsiveness to interleukins and theophylline of CD16+, CD56- natural killer cells in a patient with chronic granular lymphocyte disorder.

We report here the case of a 55-year-old patient with chronic granular lymphocyte disorder associated with moderate neutropenia. The majority of peripheral blood lymphocytes displayed a CD3-, CD8-, CD16+, CD56(NKH1)- phenotype. The patient's cells showed high spontaneous cytotoxic activity against K562 targets and developed the ability to kill the natural killer (NK)-resistant target Daudi following activation with interleukin 2 (IL-2). Simultaneously, IL-2 induced proliferation of these cells, albeit to a low level. The effects of IL-2 are likely to be mediated through the IL-2R beta chain (p70) which is expressed on these cells in the absence of the IL-2R alpha chain (p55, Tac). IL-4 was demonstrated to be inhibitory of both the cytotoxic and proliferative effects of IL-2. Thus, despite an unusual CD56- phenotype, the expanded lymphocyte population in this patient display functional and phenotypic properties of normal, non-activated NK cells. These cells probably represent the counterpart of a minor NK cell subpopulation, present in normal individuals at a low frequency, and which has never been fully characterized functionally. In addition, we show that the cytolytic activity of this NK cell population can be blocked in vitro in the presence of a cAMP analog or of theophylline, possibly providing new means of investigating the role of NK cell cytotoxicity on the pathogenesis of associated symptoms in such patients.