Downregulation of CD94/NKG2A Inhibitory Receptor on Decreased γδ T Cells in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

作者：Liping Wang, Ning Kang, Jingya Zhou, Ye Guo, Xuan Zhang, Liyuan Cui, Denian Ba, W. He · 发表于：Scandinavian Journal of Immunology · 年份：2012 · DOI：10.1111/j.1365-3083.2012.02705.x · 被引用次数：33 · 研究领域：Immune Cell Function and Interaction、T-cell and B-cell Immunology、Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research

γδ T cells are characterized by recognizing conserved endogenous and stress-induced antigens without antigen presentation. It has been show that γδ T cells play an important role in anti-tumour/microbe responses, but their function in autoimmune diseases is yet not clear. Here, we reported the quantity and phenotype of peripheral blood γδ T cells from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Both the percentages of γδ T cells in peripheral blood and among CD3(+) T cells of patients with SLE were significantly decreased, regardless of disease activity. However, activating marker CD69 and HLA-DR was upregulated, while inhibiting receptor CD94/NKG2A was downregulated in γδ T cells of patients with SLE. The expression of CD69 is negatively correlated with the quantity of γδ T cells. Moreover, the expression of CD94/NKG2A remained low even with antigen stimulation on those γδ T cells. Our results suggested that the low expression level of CD94/NKG2A upon γδ T cell activation might lead to the over-activation of γδ T cells in patients with SLE. These findings will be useful in elucidating the roles of γδ T cells in SLE pathogenesis.