Abstract
Herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK) is a corneal disease initiated by a herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection with a postulated T cell-mediated immunopathology. To study the antigen specificity of cornea-infiltrating T cells in HSK patients, T cells were isolated and expanded by mitogenic stimulation from corneas of 2 patients with HSV-1-mediated HSK. A substantial number of the T cell clones (TCCs) obtained from these T cell lines were HSV-specific. All HSV-specific TCCs were of the CD3+CD4+CD8- phenotype. These TCCs responded to autologous HSV-infected corneal keratocytes, which expressed HLA class II molecules following incubation with interferon-gamma. Upon HSV-specific stimulation, all TCCs secreted interleukin-4, interleukin-5, and interferon-gamma. The data presented suggest that HSV-specific CD4+ T cells play a role in the immunopathogenesis of HSK in humans and that corneal keratocytes may act as antigen-presenting cells in this local T cell response.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 484-8 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | The Journal of infectious diseases |
Volume | 177 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Feb 1998 |
Keywords
- Antigen Presentation
- CD3 Complex/immunology
- CD4 Antigens/immunology
- CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/cytology
- CD8 Antigens/immunology
- Cell Division
- Cells, Cultured
- Clone Cells/immunology
- Cornea/cytology
- Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic
- Herpesvirus 1, Human/immunology
- Histocompatibility Antigens Class II/immunology
- Humans
- Interferon-gamma/metabolism
- Interleukin-2/metabolism
- Interleukin-4/metabolism
- Interleukin-5/metabolism
- Keratitis, Herpetic/immunology
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta/immunology