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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2007;27:E19.)
© 2007 American Heart Association, Inc.

Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

Autoreactive CD4⁺CD28^– T Cells and Acute Coronary Syndromes

Anna-Karin L. Robertson

Section of Immunobiology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn

Göran K. Hansson

Center for Molecular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

In Response:

The letter by Zal et al addresses an important issue. It is undisputed that CD4+CD28^– T cells can be clonally expanded in the periphery and that T cells belonging to these clones infiltrate into atherosclerotic plaques.¹ How much of their activity that is antigen specific, however, is still a question of debate. The Weyand group has shown that CD4+CD28^– T cells are able to lyse endothelial cells in vitro without the need for antigen recognition.² In addition, they have provided evidence that interleukin (IL)-12 enhances lesion recruitment of these cells.³ Weyand and colleagues state "Thus, (CD4+)CD28^– T cells functionally resemble NK cells, which have proinflammatory activity even in the unprimed state and respond to any IL-12–inducing host infection with a shift in tissue trafficking and accrual in inflammatory lesions".³ At present, both antigen specific and unspecific activation of CD4+CD28^– T cells are therefore possible scenarios, and more studies are needed to shed light on this issue.

Acknowledgments

Disclosures

None.

Footnotes

Consulting Editor for this article was Alan M. Fogelman, MD, Professor of Medicine and Executive Chair, Department of Medicine and Cardiology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif.

References

1. Liuzzo G, Goronzy JJ, Yang H, Kopecky SL, Holmes DR, Frye RL, Weyand CM. Monoclonal T-cell proliferation and plaque instability in acute coronary syndromes. Circulation. 2000; 101: 2883–2888.

2. Nakajima T, Goek O, Zhang X, Kopecky SL, Frye RL, Goronzy JJ, Weyand CM. De novo expression of killer immunoglobulin-like receptors and signaling proteins regulates the cytotoxic function of CD4 T cells in acute coronary syndromes. Circ Res. 2003; 93: 106–113.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

3. Zhang X, Niessner A, Nakajima T, Ma-Krupa W, Kopecky SL, Frye RL, Goronzy JJ, Weyand CM IL 12 induces T-cell recruitment into the atherosclerotic plaque. Circ Res. 2006; 98: 524–531.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Robertson, A.-K. L. Articles by Hansson, G. K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Robertson, A.-K. L. Articles by Hansson, G. K. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Heart Attack