1. Thymus-dependent modulation of Ly49 inhibitory receptor expression on NK1.1+gamma/delta T cells.
- Author
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Hara T, Nishimura H, Hasegawa Y, and Yoshikai Y
- Subjects
- Animals, Antigens, Ly metabolism, Antigens, Surface metabolism, Bone Marrow Transplantation, Female, Lectins, C-Type, Liver immunology, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Inbred Strains, NK Cell Lectin-Like Receptor Subfamily A, NK Cell Lectin-Like Receptor Subfamily B, Radiation Tolerance, Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta analysis, Receptors, NK Cell Lectin-Like, Transplantation Chimera immunology, beta 2-Microglobulin deficiency, Antigens analysis, Membrane Glycoproteins metabolism, Proteins analysis, Receptors, Immunologic metabolism, T-Lymphocyte Subsets immunology, Thymus Gland immunology
- Abstract
Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-specific inhibitory receptors are expressed not only on natural killer (NK) cells but also on some subsets of T cells. We here show Ly49 expression on gamma/delta T cells in the thymus and liver of beta2-microglobulin-deficient (beta2m-/-) and C57BL/6 (beta2m+/+) mice. Ly49C/I or Ly49A receptor was expressed on NK1.1+gamma/delta T cells but not on NK1.1-gamma/delta T cells. The numbers of NK1.1+gamma/delta T cells were significantly smaller in beta2m+/+ mice than in beta2m-/- mice with the same H-2b genetic background. Among NK1.1+gamma/delta T cells, the proportions of Ly49C/I+ cells but not of Ly49A+ cells, were decreased in beta2m+/+ mice, suggesting that cognate interaction between Ly49C/I and H-2Kb is involved in the reduction of the number of Ly49C/I+ gamma/delta T cells in beta2m+/+ mice. The frequency of Ly49C/I+ cells in NK1.1+gamma/delta T cells was lower in both lethally irradiated beta2m+/+ mice transplanted with bone marrow (BM) from beta2m-/- mice and lethally irradiated beta2m-/- mice transplanted with BM from beta2m+/+ mice than those in adult thymectomized BM-transplanted chimera mice. These results suggest that reduction of Ly49C/I+ NK1.1+gamma/delta T cells in beta2m+/+ mice is at least partly due to the down-modulation by MHC class I molecules on BM-derived haematopoietic cells or radioresistant cells in the thymus.
- Published
- 2001
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