Human red blood cells have an enhancing effect on the relative expansion of CD8+ T lymphocytes in vitro

The present study was designed to analyse the effect of red blood cells on T‐cell proliferation and expansion. A comparative study was done in peripheral blood cell cultures stimulated with phytohemagglutinin, with or without red blood cells. The presence of red blood cells had a consistent enhancing effect on T lymphocyte proliferation, as determined by an increase in both the mitotic index and thymidine uptake. Phenotypic characterization of T cell blasts by flow cytometry revealed that, in the presence of red blood cells, expanding cells were preferentially CD8+ cells. Accordingly, proliferation of CD8+ lymphocytes from two patients with CD8+ hyperlymphocytosis was dependent on the presence of red blood cells. In contrast, proliferation of CD4+ lymphocytes from two patients with CD4+ hyperlymphocytosis was strongly inhibited by the presence of red blood cells. This is the first reported evidence that human red blood cells have an enhancing effect on the expansion of CD8+ lymphocytes in vitro.

[1]  G. Porto,et al.  Red blood cells inhibit activation-induced cell death and oxidative stress in human peripheral blood T lymphocytes. , 2001, Blood.

[2]  Irwin,et al.  Interactions between peripheral blood CD8 T lymphocytes and intestinal epithelial cells (iEC) , 1998, Clinical and experimental immunology.

[3]  B. M. da Silva,et al.  Anomalies of the CD8+ T cell pool in haemochromatosis: HLA‐A3‐linked expansions of CD8+CD28− T cells , 1997, Clinical and experimental immunology.

[4]  U. Gafter,et al.  Enhancing effects of autologous erythrocytes on human or mouse cytokine secretion and IL-2R expression. , 1993, Cellular immunology.

[5]  B. Bierer,et al.  The interaction of CD2 with its LFA-3 ligand expressed by autologous erythrocytes results in enhancement of B cell responses. , 1988, Cellular immunology.

[6]  S. Golub,et al.  Modulation of natural killer-mediated lysis by red blood cells. , 1988, Cellular immunology.

[7]  M. Rugeles,et al.  Autologous Red Blood Cells Potentiate Antibody Synthesis by Unfractionated Human Mononuclear Cell Cultures , 1987, Scandinavian journal of immunology.

[8]  M. Sanders,et al.  Human T cell rosetting is mediated by LFA-3 on autologous erythrocytes. , 1987, Journal of immunology.

[9]  E. Ebert.  Sheep red blood cells enhance T-lymphocyte proliferation. , 1985, Clinical immunology and immunopathology.

[10]  R. Souhami,et al.  The effects of erythrocyte contamination on pokeweed mitogen induced immunoglobulin synthesis in man. , 1984, Journal of immunological methods.

[11]  M. Wilkinson,et al.  Role of the E receptor in interferon-γ expression: Sheep erythrocytes augment interferon-γ production by human lymphocytes , 1984 .

[12]  A. Silva,et al.  Enhancement of the functional activities of human T cells after their interaction with SRBC. , 1981, Journal of immunology.

[13]  R. A. Johnson,et al.  Augmentation of phytohemagglutinin mitogenic activity by erythrocyte membranes. , 1972, Cellular immunology.

[14]  A. Tärnvik.  A role for red cells in phytohaemagglutinin-induced lymphocyte stimulation. , 2009, Acta pathologica et microbiologica Scandinavica. Section B: Microbiology and immunology.

[15]  R. Sparkes,et al.  MICROTECHNIQUE FOR CULTURING LEUKOCYTES FROM WHOLE BLOOD. , 1963, Cytogenetics.

[16]  K. Carstairs.  The human small lymphocyte: its possible pluripotential quality. , 1962, Lancet.

[17]  P. Nowell,et al.  Chromosome preparations of leukocytes cultured from human peripheral blood. , 1960, Experimental cell research.

[18]  F. L. Evans.  The Action of Diphtheric Toxin on Embryonic Chicks , 1938, The Journal of Immunology.