| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Cutaneous lymphocyte antigen (CLA) is expressed on a subpopulation of human memory T cells and involved in the primary step of their skin homing. Though not only T cells but a part of B cells in peripheral blood express CLA, their pathophysiologic roles have not been clarified yet. We examined the relationship between CLA expression in B cells and immunoglobulin heavy chain subtype, their localization in peripheral lymphoid tissues, molecular weight of CLA on cell lines, and functional binding to E-selectin. The present study revealed that CLA was expressed on class-switched, memory B cells in the peripheral blood and tonsils, and monocytoid B cells which are memory cells in the lymph nodes with various kind of inflammation or reactive hyperplasia. Molecular weights of CLA on exaimed B cell lines were around 130kDa. Functional study revealed that CLA on B cells bound to E-selectin transfectants. E-selectin was detected on a part of high endothelial venules in the monocytoid B-cell rich lymph nodes. These findings suggested that CLA is expressed on a subset of memory/effector B cells similar to T cells. However, as such B cells were located in the lymph nodes or tonsils but rarely found in chronic dermatitis, CLA seemed to be related to memory/effector B-cell trafficking to lymph nodes or tonsils. According to multistep theory, mechanisms in second or third step might be differently involved in CLA + B and T cells.
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