Selective Retention of Activated CD8+ T Cells by the Normal Liver

作者：Wajahat Zafar Mehal, Amy E. Juedes, Ian Nicholas Crispe · 发表于：The Journal of Immunology · 年份：1999 · DOI：10.4049/jimmunol.163.6.3202 · 被引用次数：255 · 研究领域：Immune Cell Function and Interaction、T-cell and B-cell Immunology、Immunotherapy and Immune Responses

Activation-induced cell death resulting in peripheral deletion of CD8+ T cells is associated with the accumulation of large numbers of apoptotic T cells in the liver. The hypothesis that this accumulation results from the intrahepatic trapping of T cells from the circulating pool predicts that the liver should retain T cells, which subsequently undergo apoptosis. Here we test this prediction. Perfusion of the liver with lymphocyte mixtures showed retention of activated, but neither resting nor apoptosing, T cells. This trapping was selective for CD8+ cells and was mediated primarily by ICAM-1 constitutively expressed on sinusoidal endothelial cells and Kupffer cells. T cells trapped in the liver became apoptotic. The normal liver is therefore a "sink" for activated T cells.