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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Am J Transplant. 2016 Dec 19;17(4):944–956. doi: 10.1111/ajt.14097

Figure 4.

Figure 4

CD39+ T cell depletion uncovers reactivity to select transplant associated proteins in normal healthy individuals. (A) Multiple proteins were examined to determine if CD39+ T cell depletion uncovered cellular immune responses to these antigens. Self-antigens commonly associated with autoimmune disease (Col IV, myelin basic protein, cardiac myosin), DAMP activity (HMGB1), or prostate tumor immunity (PAP) yielded no response over PBMC ‘background’. However, three self-antigens that have been associated with transplant-induced autoimmunity (Col V, kα-1-tubulin, and vimentin) all elicited a strong response. * Represents significance (p<0.05) vs PBMC- stimulated value. Data are from 5–11 individuals. (B) Removal of CD39+ T cells uncovers a population of ColV, kα-1-tubulin or vimentin specific IL-17 producing CD4 T cells. Representative flow plots from two individuals of IL-17 and IFNγ production from whole PBMCs or CD39− T cells plus monocytes treated overnight in the presence or absence of the indicated protein. Inset numbers represent observed percentage in each quadrant. (C) Quantified flow data from 5–7 normal, healthy individuals illustrating the corrected frequency of IL-17 (C) or IFNγ (D) positive CD4 T cells. Significant differences between groups (A-D) were determined by Mann Whitney U tests.