Objective(s): Regulatory T cells, including CD4+CD25+Fox3+ and CD8+CD28- cells play an important role in regulating the balance between immunity and tolerance. Since multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory autoimmune disease, regulatory T cells are considered to be involved in its pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the circulatory numbers of the two mentioned types of regulatory T cells...

The roles(s) of CD8 T cells during infections by intracellular bacteria that reside in host cell endocytic compartments are not well understood. Our previous studies in a mouse model of human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis indicated that CD8 T cells are not essential for immunity. However, we have observed an unexpected role for these cells during challenge infection. Although immunocompetent mice...

Ig-like transcript 3 (ILT3) is an inhibitory receptor expressed by tolerogenic dendritic cells. When human CD8(+) T cells are allostimulated in the presence of recombinant ILT3-Fc protein, they differentiate into antigenic specific T suppressor (Ts) cells that inhibit CD4 and CD8 T cell effector function both in vitro and in vivo. ILT3-Fc-induced CD8(+) Ts cells express high amounts of BCL6 tha...

Mature T cells express either CD8 or CD4, defining two physiologically distinct populations of T cells. CD8+ T cells, or killer T-cells, and CD4+ T cells, or helper T cells, effect different aspects of T cell mediated adaptive immunity. Currently, determining the ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ T cells requires flow cytometry or immunohistochemistry. The genomic T cell receptor locus is rearranged during...

Plasmodium sporozoites and liver stages express antigens that are targeted to the MHC-Class I antigen-processing pathway. After the introduction of Plasmodium sporozoites by Anopheles mosquitoes, bone marrow-derived dendritic cells in skin-draining lymph nodes are the first cells to cross-present parasite antigens and elicit specific CD8(+) T cells. One of these antigens is the immunodominant c...

Considering the emerging importance of phenotypic markers as indicators of cell function and differentiation, we studied patterns ofCD44 and CD45RB expression in CD8+ murine T cells with prior exposure to antigen or staphylococcal enterotoxin B ( SEB ). Following in vivo priming with two purified protein derivatives (one from a virulent WHO strain and the other from an avirulent strain), T ...

Progressive human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is often associated with high plasma virus load (pVL) and impaired CD8(+) T-cell function; in contrast, CD8(+) T cells remain polyfunctional in long-term nonprogressors. However, it is still unclear whether CD8(+) T-cell dysfunction is the cause or the consequence of high pVLs. Here, we conducted a longitudinal functional and phe...

A major contributing factor to the final magnitude and breadth of CD8(+) T-cell responses to complex antigens is immunodomination, where CD8(+) T cells recognizing their cognate ligand inhibit the proliferation of other CD8(+) T cells engaged with the same APC. In this study, we examined how the half-life of cell surface peptide-MHC class I complexes influences this phenomenon. We found that...

Inflammatory microenvironments play a key role in skeletal muscle regeneration. The infiltration of CD8 T cells into injured muscle has been reported. However, the role of CD8 T cells during skeletal muscle regeneration remains unclear. In this study, we used cardiotoxin-induced mouse skeletal muscle injury/regeneration model to investigate the role of CD8 T cells. Muscle regeneration was impai...

After lymphocyte-depleted BMT, CD8+ T cells have been expanded to or above normal levels in 45% of the recipients within 3 months. The mechanisms underlying proliferation of donor-derived CD8+ T cells after BMT are still unclear. We investigated whether these CD8+ T cells proliferate in response to specific antigens by determination of TCR clonality and whether these cells exert specific cytoto...