Recently, we identified a articular T-cell subset in the peripheral bl
ood of normal individuals that lack CD7 expression. In this study we d
etermined the portion of CD7- T cells in the peripheral blood and skin
of patients with various inflammatory skin diseases. We found that sk
in-infiltrating lymphocytes isolated from different benign and maligna
nt skin lesions (n = 20) contain a high portion of CD7- helper T cells
, whereas the number of CD7- T cells in the peripheral blood was not a
ltered compared to healthy controls. Cell activation in vitro did not
induce CD7 expression in negative T cells but increased CD7 expression
in CD7-positive cells. Thus, lack of CD7 expression seems to be a sta
ble characteristic in a major subset of skin-infiltrating lymphocytes.
During long-term culture of CD7- helper T-cell clones derived from a
psoriasis skin lesion, no phenotypic change in the CD7 phenotype could
be monitored by sequential flow-cytometric analyses. No CD7 mRNA coul
d be detected by Northern blot analysis, indicating transcriptional re
gulation of CD7 expression. The results show that CD7- T cells accumul
ate in certain inflammatory skin lesions without alteration of the cir
culating CD7- population. These cells may be identical to or derived f
rom CD7- T cells of the peripheral blood.