S. Sumita et al., A VASCULAR SMOOTH MUSCLE-SPECIFIC CD4(-CELL LINE THAT INDUCES PULMONARY VASCULITIS IN MRL-+() T)+ MICE/, Clinical and experimental immunology, 105(1), 1996, pp. 163-168
We established a T cell line, MV1, specific for rat vascular smooth mu
scle antigen from the regional lymph nodes of immunized MRL/Mp-+/+ mic
e. Adoptive transfer of MV1 T cells induced vasculitis lesions in the
lungs of the syngeneic recipient mice pre-treated with cyclophosphamid
e. Flow cytometric analysis showed that MV1 was a CD4(+) T cell line.
The T cells proliferated in the presence of the vascular smooth muscle
antigen and mitomycin C-treated syngeneic spleen cells. The cross exp
eriments using an ovalbumin-specific T cell line demonstrated that MV1
was specific for vascular smooth muscle antigen. The antigen-specific
proliferation of MV1 was CD4-dependent, which was consistent with the
flow cytometric analysis. In addition, MV1 T cells, upon activation w
ith anti-CD3 antibody or antigen-specific activation, killed A20.2J mo
use B lymphoma cells. MV1 T cells also killed a CD95 (Fas)-transfected
T lymphoma line: but not its parental Fas-negative cell line. These f
indings indicate that MV1 T cells killed target cells via a Fas ligand
(FasL)/Fas pathway. The cytotoxicity of MV1 T cells may play an impor
tant role in the development of vasculitis in this model. Although the
antigenic epitopes of MV1 and the lung specificity of vasculitis rema
in to be clarified, MV1-induced vasculitis should serve as an experime
ntal model of human pulmonary vasculitis.