Table 1.
Enhanced immune effector functions in CD4+ T cells from pulmonary tuberculosis granuloma lesions in the presence of IL-2
| Patient #1 | Patient #2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Culture in the presence of IL-2 | − | + | − | + |
| APC alone IFN-γ (pg/ml/24 hr) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| APC+GAL IFN-γ (pg/ml/24 hr) | 0 | 0 | 192 | 326 |
| APC+M. tub.IFN-γ (pg/ml/24 hr) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| APC+M. tub. + GALIFN-γ (pg/ml/24 hr) | 769 | 2389 | 1032 | 3467 |
| APC+M. tub. + GAL +anti-HLA-DR IFN-γ (pg/ml/24 hr) | 0 | 36 | 276 | 233 |
| APC+M. tub. + GAL +anti-MHC class I IFN-γ (pg/ml/24 hr) | 548 | 1906 | n.d. | n.d. |
| GAL+anti-CD3 IFN-γ (pg/ml/24 hr) | 3695 | 2091 | > 20 000 | > 20 000 |
Freshly isolated (2 days) granuloma associated CD4+ lymphocytes (GAL) were exposed for 24 hr to HLA-DR matched macrophages (antigen-presenting cells, APC) which had been infected with M. tuberculosis (M. tub.). The antigen-specific and HLA-DR-restricted CD4+ T-cell response was confirmed by blocking with an anti-MHC class II (DR)-specific mAb. Blocking was not observed with the anti-MHC class I-directed mAb. Crosslinking the TCR with anti-CD3 served as the positive control. CD4+ GAL correspond to the T-cell population shown in Fig. 4, which were either short-term (2 days) expanded in medium supplemented only with IL-7, or alternatively in the presence of high dose (1000 IU/ml) IL-2. n.d. = not determined.