Direct involvement of CD7 (gp40) in activation of TcRγ/δ+ T cells

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Abstract
In this study we reported that on T cell receptor (TcR)γ/δ+ cells from three cell lines Peer, MOLT‐13 and ICRF‐1, the T cell antigen CD7 (gp40) can be directly involved in the activation process. This is shown by a rapid increase in cytoplasmic free calcium after stimulation of these cells with an anti‐CD7 monoclonal antibody (mAb). Activation through CD7 was further confirmed by measuring the production of interleukin 2 in ICRF‐1 cells stimulated with anti‐CD7 mAb. In addition induction of mRNA for tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α and TNF‐β in Peer and for granulocyte‐macrophage‐colony‐stimulating factor in MOLT‐13 was observed in these anti‐CD7‐stimulated cells. The same anti‐CD7 antibody was unable to activate TcR α/β+ Jurkat cells or normal resting peripheral blood T lymphocytes. We further showed that normal resting TcR γ/δ+ cells were likewise activated via the CD7 molecule. TcR γ/δ+ cells obtained from a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia 3 months after autologous bone marrow transplantation were induced to proliferate, as measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation after stimulation with anti‐CD7 mAb but not with anti‐CD3 mAb. Interestingly TcR α/β+ cells from the same donor tested in parallel were not stimulated by anti‐CD7 but by anti‐CD3 mAb. In essence these findings contribute to the idea that on TcR γ/δ+ cell, the CD7 antigen could play an important role during T cell differentiation.

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