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Updated: Oct 11, 2026

Development of an Insert Co-culture System of Two Cellular Types in the Absence of Cell-Cell Contact
Published on: July 17, 2016
T cell-monocyte contact enhances tumor necrosis factor-alpha production in response to Mycobacterium leprae
E P Sampaio1, R B Oliveira, J Warwick-Davies
1Leprosy Laboratory, Oswaldo Cruz Institute (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Abstract:
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha has been implicated as a key factor in inflammatory processes occurring in erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL). In the present study, the roles of soluble factors and contact-mediated interaction in the induction of enhanced TNF-alpha secretion in leprosy have been investigated. In vitro studies have demonstrated that Mycobacterium leprae per se is a poor stimulus for TNF-alpha production by purified monocytes obtained from normal subjects, although this could be enhanced by either exogenous interferon-gamma or cell contact with fixed activated T lymphocytes. Further investigations demonstrated that monocyte-T cell contact enhanced M. leprae-induced TNF-alpha production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells of ENL patients and was modulated by blocking antibodies to CD40L, CD69, and CD18. These results suggest that physical contact with T cells isolated from patients in a particular disease state (ENL) modulates monocyte function and may contribute to the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines described in ENL.
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