M. Iwata et al., HUMAN-LEUKOCYTE ANTIGEN - CLASS II-POSITIVE HUMAN CORNEAL EPITHELIAL-CELLS ACTIVATE ALLOGENEIC T-CELLS, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 35(12), 1994, pp. 3991-4000
Purpose. To achieve a better understanding of the mechanism of corneal
immune diseases, including corneal allograft rejection, the authors e
xamined the potential of human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells to activ
ate allogeneic T lymphocytes. Methods. The mixed lymphocyte-HCE cell r
eaction (MLCER) was performed as follows: HCE cells from primary cultu
res, with or without treatment with interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma),were
treated with mitomycin C and then mixed with peripheral blood lymphocy
tes (PBL) from normal volunteers. Triplicate cultures were incubated f
or 7 days. Interleukin-1-alpha (IL-1-alpha) was added to some cultures
to examine its effect on MLCER. The lymphocyte responses were measure
d by H-3-thymidine uptake for the last 18 hours of incubation in MLCER
. Results. IFN-gamma-treated, HLA-class-II-bearing HCE cells stimulate
d allogenic lymphocytes, whereas IFN-gamma nontreated, class-II-negati
ve HCE cells did not. The stimulation by IFN-gamma-treated HCE cells w
as blocked by anti-HLA class II monoclonal antibody. In addition, exog
enous IL-1-alpha reduced the lymphocyte response in MLCER. This effort
was inhibited by indomethacin. Conclusions. This study demonstrates t
hat HLA-class-II-bearing HCE cells can activate allogeneic PBL by a ma
jor histocompatibility complex class II-dependent mechanism. In additi
on, HCE cells may regulate immune reactions, probably through prostagl
andin production caused by IL-1.