L. Vanparijs et al., FUNCTIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF DYSREGULATED B7-1 (CD80) AND B7-2 (CD86) EXPRESSION IN B-LYMPHOCYTE OR T-LYMPHOCYTE OF TRANSGENIC MICE, The Journal of immunology, 159(11), 1997, pp. 5336-5344
T cell activation and tolerance are regulated by interactions between
CD28 or CTLA-4 on T cells and B7 costimulatory molecules on APCs. We h
ave generated transgenic mouse strains that constitutively express B7-
1 (CD80) at high levels on B cells or T cells or express B7-2 (CD86) o
n T lymphocytes to examine the consequences of dysregulated B7 express
ion on T cell responses. The transgene-derived B7 molecules are functi
onal, because B7-1 transgenic B cells are more efficient APCs than are
wild-type B cells, and the activation of B7 transgenic T cells is les
s dependent on exogenous costimulation than that of wild-type T cells.
In vivo, constitutive expression of B7 molecules leads to the elimina
tion of immature B cells. The expression of B7 molecules on thymocytes
results in the down-regulation of CD28 expression. However, B7 transg
enic mice have normal numbers of mature lymphocytes and mount normal T
cell responses following immunization with protein Ag. Neither anergy
induction nor superantigen-mediated deletion of T cells is altered by
the dysregulated expression of B7-1 or B7-2 on B or T lymphocytes in
these transgenic strains. Therefore, functionally significant levels o
f B7 expressed constitutively on mature lymphocytes are not, by themse
lves, sufficient to abrogate T cell tolerance or induce autoimmune dis
ease.