Expression and function of CD43 and CDw60 on T cells from patients with atopic dermatitis

Signalling via the CD43 and CDw60 epitopes has been reported as providing two novel pathways of T-lymphocyte activation. In Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, which has atopic eczema-like skin symptoms, there is a defective expression of CD43, while CDw60 is strongly expressed on T cells from rheumatoid arthritis synovial fluid and from psoriatic skin lesions, and on blood mononuclear cells from patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. We therefore studied the expression and function of these phenotypes on peripheral blood mononuclear cells and on CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell subsets from patients with atopic dermatitis. We observed a significant increase in the percentage of CD43+ cells among the blood mononuclear cells in patients with atopic dermatitis and an enhanced proliferation of CD4+ T cells following stimulation with anti-CD43 antibody. There were no changes in the CDw60 expression or function after stimulation with anti-CDw60 antibody. Thus, CD43 expression was not decreased but rather increased in blood mononuclear cells from patients with atopic dermatitis, whereas CDw60 expression did not differ from healthy controls.