ISSN:
1365-2133
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Background Adhesion molecules and chemokine receptors are involved in tissue-specific homing of T cells to the skin and play an important role in the pathophysiology of cutaneous lymphoma. It has recently been reported that the chemokine CCL27 expressed by keratinocytes attracts lymphocytes bearing the chemokine receptor CCR10.Objectives To investigate the expression of CCR4, CCR7 and CCR10 on skin-homing CLA+ and CD4+ T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with Sézary syndrome (SS), a rare leukaemic variant of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.Methods Lymphocytes from five patients with SS, six patients with mycosis fungoides and four healthy volunteers were isolated and analysed using flow cytometry. Additionally, the T-cell receptor (TCR)-Vβ CDR3 regions were cloned and sequenced in two patients.Results We found that CCR4 is expressed on almost all CLA+ and CD4+ memory T cells. Using monoclonal antibodies specific for single TCR-Vβ chains we identified malignant T cells in four patients with SS. Importantly, we found that most but not all malignant Sézary cells expressed the skin-homing chemokine receptor CCR10. Additionally, we found that a significant proportion of these cells also expressed the lymph node-homing chemokine receptor CCR7.Conclusions Our results support the concept that chemokine receptors play an important role in the pathophysiology of SS and suggest that the malignant clone may represent an expansion of skin-homing cutaneous ‘central’ memory T cells in the peripheral blood of these patients.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2004.06325.x
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