Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol.,
Volume 24, Number 3, March, 2001 332-338
Human 
/
T-Cell Lines Derived from Airway Biopsies
Adam V.
Wisnewski,
Hilary
Cain,
Nadine
Magoski,
Hong
Wang,
Carole T.
Holm,
and
Carrie A.
Redlich
Pulmonary and Critical Care Section, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
/
T cells have been postulated to play an important role in
the immune response at epithelial boundaries, but have not
been well described in human lung tissue. We have identified
and characterized / T-cell lines from human airway biopsies
and compared them with T-cell lines from paired peripheral
blood samples. Airway-derived T-cell lines stimulated with tetanus toxoid (TT) contained a greater proportion of / T cells
compared with T-cell lines stimulated with mitogens, other
antigens, or without antigen. TT-stimulated airway T cells expressed different T-cell receptors (TCRs) than did blood-
derived T cells, and used predominately variable region (V)I
family genes rather than VII family genes. Airway-derived /
T cells produced high levels of interferon- and were associated with T helper 1-like cytokine profiles. This study describes the presence and antigen-dependent proliferation of
/ T cells from human airway tissue, and demonstrates differences in lung-derived / TCRs compared with / T cells derived from peripheral blood. The data suggest that / T cells
may be functionally enriched in human airways relative to peripheral blood.
