Abstract
Multi-color flow cytometric analysis on human CD8+ T cell subsets revealed that CXCR4 is predominantly expressed on CD8+ T cells with the naive CD27+CD28+CD45RA+ phenotype, and is down-regulated during differentiation into those with an effector phenotype. The down-regulation of CXCR4 expression during peripheral differentiation was supported by the fact that the expression of CXCR4 on CD8+ T cells was negatively correlated with that of perforin. The analysis of CCR5, CCR7, and CXCR4 co-expression further showed that CD8+ T cells expressing a high level of CXCR4 are CCR7+CCR5- naive or central memory subsets, and those expressing a low level of CXCR4 were included in the CCR7-CCR5+/- memory/effector and effector subsets. Epstein Barr virus-specific CD8+ T cells, which mostly express the memory phenotype, expressed CXCR4, while human cytomegalovirus-specific CD8+ T cells, which mostly express the effector phenotype, partially expressed this receptor, showing that the expression of CXCR4 is also down-regulated during differentiation of viral antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. The classification of human CD8+ T cells based on the expression of these chemokine receptors should prove useful for studies that clarify the differentiation of human CD8+ T cells.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 3370-3378 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | European Journal of Immunology |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2004 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- CD8 T cells
- CXCR4
- Memory T cells
- Naive T cells
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Immunology