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From the Departments of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
I,*
and Pathology,
Tohoku
University, Sendai, Japan; the Department of
Bacteriology,
Kinki University, Osaka-Sayama,
Japan; the Department of Molecular Preventive
Medicine,§
University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan;
and the Molecular/Cancer Biology Laboratory and Department of
Pathology,¶
Haartman Institute, University of
Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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As one of the surgical procedures for advanced oral cancer, autologous skin flaps are routinely transplanted into the oral cavity to reconstruct a large tissue defect after the radical resection of cancer.15 During the follow-up of patients, skin flaps are frequently infected with Candida albicans.16 Histological investigation of the inflamed skin flaps revealed clusters of CD45RO+CD4+ T cells around Langerhans cell (LC)-like DCs in the dermis.17 Such clusters of T cells and DCs (designated as T cell-DC clusters in the present article)18 have a close resemblance to those observed in the T cell area of LNs. DCs in both regions are of either maturing or fully mature phenotypes.17,19 Therefore, these T cell-DC clusters may be involved in specific antigen presentation and/or other pathophysiological interactions between T cells and DCs.
A number of chemokines have been shown to be expressed in the secondary lymphoid tissues, such as pulmonary and activation-regulated chemokine (PARC)/CCL18,20,21 EBI1-ligand chemokine (ELC)/CCL19,20,22 secondary lymphoid-tissue chemokine (SLC)/CCL21,23 and MDC/CCL22.3,4,5,20 All these chemokines are produced by DCs,1 only except SLC, which is mainly produced by the endothelium of high endothelial venules and lymphatic vessels.23 Therefore, we speculate that some chemokines may be involved in the formation of T cell-DC clusters. Here we show that DCs within the T cell-DC clusters of both inflamed skin flaps and T cell area of LNs are strongly positive for MDC and are surrounded by CCR4+CD4+ T cells. This suggests an important role of the MDC-CCR4 system in the interaction between DCs and activated memory CD4+ T cells in both inflamed skin and secondary lymphoid tissues.4
| Materials and Methods |
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A forearm skin flap was autotransplanted into the oral cavity to
reconstruct an extensive defect in the oral cavity caused by curative
resection of advanced oral cancer. The skin flap included the
epidermis, dermis, subcutaneous adipose tissue, underlying muscle
fascia, and vascular pedicle. Twenty-three biopsy specimens were
obtained during the second surgery performed
2 years after the
primary surgery for cosmetic reason (to revise the contour of skin
flaps). Of these 23 cases, 17 cases were severely inflamed by C.
albicans infection.16
Neck LNs were obtained from
five patients with oral cancer during the radical neck dissection. All
LNs examined were devoid of cancer metastasis. The remnant normal
forearm-skin tissues trimmed off at the initial surgery were used as a
normal control in seven cases. The present study has been approved by
the Ethics Committee of Tohoku University School of Dentistry.
Specimens were collected after the informed consent has been obtained.
For immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy, specimens were
fixed in periodate-lysine-4% paraformaldehyde for 6 hours at 4°C.
After washing in phosphate-buffered saline containing sucrose, fixed
specimens were embedded in OCT compound (Miles, Elkhart, IN) and
rapidly frozen. For immunofluorescence staining, parts of the specimens
were frozen without prefixation. For reverse transcriptase-polymerase
chain reaction (RT-PCR), samples were frozen and stored at -80°C
until use.
RT-PCR Analysis
Total RNA was prepared from inflamed skin (two patients), normal skin (two patients), and LN (two patients) by using Trizol reagent (Life Technologies, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD). RNA was further purified by using RNeasy (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). Total RNA (1 µg) was reverse-transcribed using oligo (dT) primer and SuperScript II reverse transcriptase (Life Technologies, Inc.). Resulting first-strand DNA (20 ng total RNA equivalent) and original total RNA (20 ng) were amplified in a final volume of 20 µl containing 10 pmol of each primer and 1 U of Ex-Taq polymerase (Takara Shuzo, Kyoto, Japan). The primers used were: +5'-AGGACAGAGCATGGCTCGCCTACAGA-3' and -3'-TAATGGCAGGGAGGTAGGGCTCCTGA-3' for MDC; +5'-AAGAAGAACAAGGCGGTGAAGATG-3' and -5'-AGGCCCCTGCAGGTTTTGAAG-3' for CCR4; +5'-GCCAAGGTCATCCATGACAACTTTGG-3' and -5'-GCCTGCTTCACCACCTTCTTGATGTC-3' for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH). PCR amplification was performed by denaturation at 94°C for 30 seconds (5 minutes for the first cycle), annealing at 60°C for 30 seconds, and extension at 72°C for 30 seconds (5 minutes for the last cycle) for 36 cycles for MDC and CCR4, and 28 cycles for G3PDH. Amplification products (10 µl each) were subjected to electrophoresis on 2% agarose and stained with ethidium bromide for visualization.
Antibodies and Immunohistochemistry
The specificity of murine monoclonal anti-CCR4 antibody (clone KM2160, IgG1)10 and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor-receptor 3 antibody (VEGFR-3) (IgG1)24 was described previously. Rabbit polyclonal anti-MDC antibody was obtained from PeproTech (Rocky Hill, NJ). Murine monoclonal anti-CD1a (IgG2a; DAKO, Glostrup, Denmark), anti-CD83 (IgG2b; Immunotech, Marseille, France), anti-CD4 (IgG1; Becton Dickinson, San Jose, CA) and anti-CD20 (IgG2a; DAKO) were also purchased. Phycoerythrin (PE)-conjugated murine monoclonal anti-CD1a (IgG1; Coulter, Miami, FL), anti-CD83 (IgG2b; Immunotech), and anti-CD4 (IgG1; Becton Dickinson) were used for double staining.
For immunohistochemistry, periodate-lysine-4% paraformaldehyde-prefixed frozen sections were used. After the application of primary antibody, either goat anti-mouse or goat anti-rabbit Envision plus system (DAKO) was applied. As negative control, murine isotype-matched monoclonal IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG2b (DAKO) were used. The absorption test of anti-human MDC polyclonal antibody was performed using recombinant human MDC consisting of 69 amino acid residues (PeproTech). MDC immunostaining was completely abolished using the antibody solution pre-absorbed by a 10-fold excess of MDC.
Double Immunohistochemistry
The following combinations of double enzyme-linked immunohistochemistry were performed with periodate-lysine-4% paraformaldehyde-prefixed frozen sections of eight representative cases as described previously:17 MDC/CCR4, MDC/CD1a, MDC/CD83, MDC/VEGFR-3, CCR4/CD20, and CD1a/CD4. Cross-reactivity of anti-MDC antibody with the second-step primary antibodies was examined by processing four pairs, ie, anti-MDC antibody, (+)/second-step primary antibody (+), (+)/(-), (-)/(+), and (-)/(-). Cross-reactivity of anti-CCR4 antibody and anti-CD20 antibody, or anti-CD1a antibody and anti-CD4 antibody was also examined in the same way. No cross-reactivity was observed.
Double-Immunofluorescence Staining
Fresh frozen sections mounted on glass slides were fixed for 10 minutes in chilled acetone before use. The following combinations of double-immunofluorescence staining were performed in five representative cases as described previously:17 CCR4/CD1a, CCR4/CD83, and CCR4/CD4.
Immunoelectron Microscopy for CCR4 and MDC
The pre-embedding immunoperoxidase method was adopted in four cases as described previously.17
Double-Labeling Immunoelectron Microscopy for MDC/CD1a or MDC/CD83
Immunoperoxidase MDC staining was performed first by the same method as in light microscopic immunohistochemistry, followed by silver-enhanced immunogold labeling for CD1a or CD83. After diaminobenzidine reaction for MDC, specimens were incubated with anti-CD1a or anti-CD83 overnight. Specimens were incubated for 2 hours with anti-mouse Fab labeled with <0.8-nm gold particles (GP-Ultra Small; Aurion, Wageningen, Netherlands). Gold particles were treated with the silver-enhancing system (R-Gent, Aurion). Specimens were postfixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde and then with 1% osmium tetroxide, and embedded in Epon.
| Results |
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RT-PCR analysis revealed that MDC and CCR4 mRNAs were
strongly up-regulated in inflamed skin samples and neck LNs in
comparison to normal skin samples (Figure 1)
.
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Normal Skin
We observed hardly any cells clearly positive for CCR4 or MDC in the epidermis or dermis of normal skin tissues (data not shown).
Inflamed Skin
As shown in our previous article,17
inflamed dermis
is infiltrated by lymphocytes and DCs, forming T cell-DC clusters
(Figure 2)
. In these T cell-DC clusters,
CCR4 was expressed in small round cells (probably lymphocytes; Figure 3A
), whereas larger cells expressed MDC
(Figure 3B)
. Double staining revealed that CCR4+
cells clustered around MDC+ cells (Figure 3C)
.
Figure 3C
also suggested that vast majority of
MDC+ cells did not co-express CCR4. Double
staining identified MDC+ cells as LC-like DCs
because of co-expression of CD1a or CD83 (Figure 4)
. Most of CCR4+
cells were identified as CD4+ T lymphocytes, and
such CCR4+ cells accounted for approximately
one-third of CD4+ T lymphocytes present in the
inflamed dermis (Figure 5a)
. In the
epidermis,
50% of epidermal LCs were found to express CCR4 in the
inflamed skin (Figure 5b)
. This is contrasted with the absence of CCR4
in MDC+ LC-like DCs in T cell-DC clusters in the
dermis (Figure 5c)
. MDC+ DCs were also present
within the lumen of lymphatic vessels stained by anti-VEGFR-3 in the
inflamed dermis (Figure 6)
.
Immunoelectron microscopy confirmed CCR4 expression on the plasma
membrane of lymphocytes clustering around DCs (Figure 7A)
. Double-immunoelectron microscopy
revealed that DCs, identified by CD1a or CD83 expression on the plasma
membrane (dotted silver-enhanced colloidal gold), also expressed MDC in
the perinuclear space and in the rough endoplasmic reticulum (diffuse
black deposits) (Figure 7
; B, C, and D). The latter pattern is typical
of a secretary-type protein that is translated on the surface of rough
endoplasmic reticulum and perinuclear space studded with polysomes and
subsequently transported into the cisternae. Therefore, our findings
clearly confirmed in situ production of MDC by DCs.
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Both CCR4+ cells and
MDC+ cells were located within the T cell area
and generally absent in the follicle (Figure 8, AD)
. CCR4+
lymphocytes were clustered around the MDC+ DCs,
showing a close similarity to the T cell-DC clusters in the inflamed
dermis (see Figure 3C
). No cells were double-positive for MDC and CCR4.
MDC+ cells in the T cell area were identified as
DCs by their co-expression of CD1a or CD83 examined at both light and
electron microscopic levels (not shown).
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| Discussion |
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MDC+ cells were identified as CD1a+ or CD83+ DCs both in inflamed skin and LN. This observation is consistent with earlier studies showing MDC expression by DCs in the T cell area of murine LN4 and by dermal DCs in murine atopic dermatitis.7 Our double-labeling immunoelectron microscopy confirmed that MDC protein is localized in the perinuclear space and the rough endoplasmic reticulum of CD1a+ or CD83+ DCs, demonstrating in situ production of MDC. We also found MDC+ DCs located within the lumen of lymphatic vessels. Our previous study showed that such DCs were of the mature phenotype expressing both B7-1 and B7-2.17 Therefore, our morphological observation is consistent with the in vitro observation that MDC expression by DCs is up-regulated during their maturation process.4,5 Galli and colleagues25 reported MDC expression by T cells in human atopic dermatitis. However, we did not observe any staining of MDC in T cells. This discrepancy might be explained by the differences of diseases (a Th2-type disease versus microbial infection). One of the previous in vitro studies on MDC production proposed an autocrine role, suggesting that MDC expressed by DCs was chemotactic for DCs themselves to enhance DC accumulation at the site of inflammation.3 According to this hypothesis, MDC+ cells might be expected to express CCR4. However, we did not observe any MDC+ DCs expressing CCR4 in both inflamed skin and LN.
CCR4 was mainly expressed by CD4+ T cells in both inflamed skin and LN. Our previous study revealed that CD4+ T cells in inflamed dermis were mostly CD45RO+, indicating memory/effector T cells.17 Therefore, CCR4+ T cells within T cell-DC clusters are likely to be memory/effector T cells. This is consistent with the previous finding that CCR4 is selectively expressed on peripheral blood CD4+CD45RO+ T cells.10 We observed that one-third of CD4+ T cells were positive for CCR4. Therefore, other chemokines are probably attracting the remaining CD4+ T cells.
CCR4 was also expressed by approximately half of the epidermal LCs in
inflamed skin. This was contrasted with the lack of CCR4 expression in
dermal DCs within T cell-DC clusters or in epidermal LCs in normal
skin. Our morphological observation may suggest that CCR4 is involved
in the trafficking of epidermal LCs at the inflamed site. Epidermal LCs
were previously shown to express CCR6, whereas its ligand, liver, and
activation-regulated chemokine (LARC)/macrophage inflammatory
protein-3
(MIP-3
)/CCL20, was produced by inflamed tonsillar
epithelial cells or normal epidermal keratinocytes.26,27
It remains to be seen whether CCR4+ epidermal LCs
are attracted to the epidermis by MDC or TARC via CCR4 in inflamed
skin. CCR4+ epidermal LCs are also likely to
transmigrate across the epidermal basement membrane toward the dermal T
cell-DC clusters. During this transmigration, they may down-regulate
CCR4 expression while up-regulating MDC expression.
One of the aims in this study was to compare inflamed skin tissues with LNs. A close similarity was observed in the staining pattern of MDC and CCR4 in inflamed skin and neck LNs. The microenvironments of inflamed skin tissues and LNs are probably quite different. Nevertheless, this similarity suggests that the basic mechanisms that lead to the formation of T cell-DC clusters are common in both inflamed skin and LN. Chemokines other than MDC may also be involved in the formation of T cell-DC clusters. For example, we also found up-regulation of TARC mRNA in both inflamed skin and LN by RT-PCR (unpublished data). However, we were unable to reveal the cellular localization of TARC protein because of a poor signal to noise ratio. It remains to be seen what other chemokines may be involved in the present dermal inflammatory process.
In summary, our results suggest that MDC and CCR4 play an important role in the formation of T cell-DC clusters in both inflamed skin and LN. This suggests that MDC and CCR4 are involved in both homeostatic and inflammatory conditions. In other words, our data support a view that inflammatory reactions leading to the formation of T cell-DC clusters in chronically inflamed tissues are similar to some extent to the physiological cell-to-cell interactions in the secondary lymphoid tissues.2,28,29 The interaction between DCs and T cells in the peripheral inflamed regions may collaborate with those in the T cell area of LN in the protective immunity to infectious challenges.
| Acknowledgements |
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| Footnotes |
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Accepted for publication December 21, 2000.
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is involved in the constitutive trafficking of epidermal Langerhans cells. J Exp Med 1999, 190:1755-1768This article has been cited by other articles:
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