INTERACTIONS BETWEEN T-LYMPHOCYTES AND ENDOTHELIAL-CELLS IN ALLOGRAFT-REJECTION

Vascular endothelial cells participate in the process of allograft rej ection by promoting both the recruitment and the activation of allorea ctive T cells. There have been three major recent advances in the fiel d of interactions between T cells and endothelial cells that are of di rect relevance to the process of cell-mediated responses to allografts : first, endothelial cells mediate selective recruitment of CD4+ T cel l subsets, including naive and memory T cells and T cell subsets of th e Th1 and Th2 phenotypes; second, endothelial cells costimulate the pr oduction of effector cytokines by helper T cells; and third, endotheli al cells regulate T cell apoptosis.