Differential role for CD277 as a co-regulator of the immune signal in T and NK cells.
Eur J Immunol 2011;
41:3443-54. [PMID:
21918970 DOI:
10.1002/eji.201141404]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2011] [Revised: 07/25/2011] [Accepted: 09/08/2011] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The human butyrophilin (BTN) 3 or CD277 molecules belong to the B7 family members and are expressed in various immune cells such as T and NK cells. Here, we show that CD277 triggering considerably enhances TCR-induced cytokine production and cell proliferation, even when another co-stimulatory molecule, CD28, is engaged. These CD277-induced additive functional effects are in accordance with the detection of early T-cell activation events such as TCR-induced cell signaling being increased upon CD277 engagement. However, we found that CD277 triggering is not involved in CD16- or NKp46-induced NK cell activation. BTN3/CD277 comprises three structurally related members, BTN3A1, BTN3A2 and BTN3A3. CD277 antibodies recognize all isoforms and we describe a differential expression of BTN3 isoforms between T and NK cells that could explain differential CD277 functions between T and NK cells. Our results show that, while T cells express all BTN3/CD277 transcripts, NK cells express mostly BTN3A2, which lacks the B30.2 intracellular domain. Furthermore, NKp30-induced cytokine production is decreased by the specific engagement of BTN3A2, but not by BTN3A1 triggering. Thus, we provide new insights into the CD277 co-stimulatory pathway that may differentially participate in the regulation of various cell-mediated immune responses.
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