Staphylococcal superantigens induce lymphotactin production by human CD4+ and CD8+ T cells

Lymphotactin is a potent chemotactic cytokine (chemokine) that is produced by and also attracts T and natural killer (NK) cells. We are studying whether chemokines that affect mainly T cells might also regulate immune responses by preferentially recruiting individual subsets or by affecting cytokine or other chemokine responses. In order to pursue these questions, we need to learn more about the mechanisms regulating lymphotactin production and the cell types capable of releasing this factor. We used new monoclonal antibodies against human lymphotactin to develop a sensitive antigen-capture enzyme linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) that measures chemokine levels in culture fluids. Using this capture ELISA, we showed that lymphotactin could be produced by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, but only after T cell-receptor-dependent stimulation using bacterial superantigens and not after treatment by inflammatory cytokines or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Our data show that lymphotactin production responds mainly to T cell-receptor signals in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and suggests a mechanism whereby this chemokine could help to regulate T cell immune responses.