Human alveolar macrophages induce functional inactivation in antigen-specific CD4 T cells

Alveolar macrophages (AMCs) are the most abundant phagocytic cells in the lung, but they present antigen poorly to T cells.

The objectives of our studies were to more clearly define the mechanisms by which AMCs present antigen to T cells and to determine whether AMCs actively inhibit T-cell activation.

We studied purified human CD4 T cells and compared the capacity of allogeneic AMCs and peripheral blood monocytes to induce T-cell proliferation and cytokine production.

We previously demonstrated that human AMCs fail to upregulate expression of B7-1 and B7-2 on stimulation with IFN-gamma. We now demonstrate that AMCs actively induce T-cell unresponsiveness (functional inactivation) in an antigen-specific manner and reduce the capacity of CD4 T cells to respond on secondary stimulation. The induction of unresponsiveness was reversed by the addition of CD28 costimulation or IL-2. However, interruption of Fas/Fas ligand interactions or of B7/CTLA-4 interactions did not prevent unresponsiveness, indicating that neither CTLA-4 triggering nor Fas-induced apoptosis was involved in the induction of T-cell unresponsiveness.

These studies indicate that AMCs actively tolerize CD4 T cells in an antigen-specific fashion. We propose that AMCs mediate a form of immune privilege in the lungs that effectively limits immune responses in the pulmonary compartment but has little effect on systemic immunity.