G. Matsuyama et al., HETEROGENEOUS EXPRESSION OF TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR-ALPHA RECEPTOR-I AND RECEPTOR-II ON HUMAN PERIPHERAL EOSINOPHILS, International archives of allergy and immunology, 117, 1998, pp. 28-33
Background: Expression of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor by
human eosinophils has not been determined. We examined the surface exp
ression and mRNA for tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptors I and II (T
NF-alpha RI and TNF-alpha RII) on peripheral eosinophils. Methods: Eos
inophils were obtained from 17 asthma patients and 3 healthy volunteer
s. Flow cytometry was used to examine receptor expression, and the rev
erse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was used to examine recep
tor mRNA expression. Results: Flow cytometry revealed that 16 out of 2
0 subjects had eosinophils expressing TNF-alpha RI and 18 subjects had
eosinophils expressing TNF-alpha RII. All eosinophils expressed at le
ast one receptor. The mRNA for TNF-alpha RII was detected in all eosin
ophils examined, but the signals for TNF-alpha RI mRNA were only found
in cells expressing this receptor. Conclusions: Human peripheral eosi
nophils show heterogeneous expression of TNF-alpha RI and TNF-alpha RI
I.