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Determining Optimal Cytotoxic Activity of Human Her2neu Specific CD8 T cells by Comparing the Cr51 Release Assay to the xCELLigence System
Published on: August 8, 2012
Toxic epidermal necrolysis: effector cells are drug-specific cytotoxic T cells
Amal Nassif1, Armand Bensussan, Laurence Boumsell
1INSERM U448, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Universite Paris XII, F-94010 Créteil, France.
Background:
Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a very rare but extremely severe drug reaction characterized by widespread apoptosis of epidermis with extensive blisters. We previously found drug-specific cytotoxic CD8 T lymphocytes in the blisters of a single patient.
Objective:
To confirm the role of drug specific cytotoxic lymphocytes in a larger series, to test the cytotoxicity on keratinocytes, and to look for cross-reactivity between chemically related drugs.
Methods:
The phenotype of lymphocytes present in the blister fluids of 6 patients with TEN was analyzed by flow cytometry. Cytotoxic functions were tested by chromium release assay on a variety of target cells (autologous or MHC class I-matched EBV-transformed lymphocytes, autologous keratinocytes) after nonspecific (CD3 monoclonal antibody) or specific (suspected and potentially cross-reactive drugs) activation.
Results:
Blister lymphocytes were CD8 + HLA-DR + CLA + CD56 + . In all 6 cases, they were cytotoxic after nonspecific activation. A drug-specific cytotoxicity was observed in 4 cases (3 related to cotrimoxazole and 1 to carbamazepine) toward lymphocytes. Blister cells also killed IFN-gamma-activated autologous keratinocytes in the presence of drug in the 2 patients tested. Blister cells showed a strong immunoreactivity for granzyme B, and cytotoxicity was abolished by EGTA, but not by anti-Fas/CD95, suggesting perforin/granzyme-mediated killing. By using several sulfonamides for testing the specificity of the drug T-cell receptor interaction, we observed cross-reactivity only between 4 structurally closely related medications.
Conclusion:
These results strongly suggest that drug-specific, MHC class I-restricted, perforin/granzyme-mediated cytotoxicity probably has a primary role in TEN.
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