Appearance of Anti‐HLA‐DR‐Reactive Cells in Normal and Rheumatoid Synovial Tissue

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The reactivity of rabbit anti‐HLA‐DR antigen antibodies with cells in normal and rheumatoid synovial tissue was investigated by indirect immunofluorescence on frozen sections of tissue. The antibodies reacted with a significant proportion of the synovial lining cells of both normal and rheumatoid synovial tissue, with endothelial cells, and with a number of, most probably, migratory cells. After dispersion of cells from rheumatoid synovial tissue by digestion with collagenase and DNase, adherent cells of both a macrophage‐like and a dendritic appearance reacted with the anti‐HLA‐DR antigen antibodies. The adherent cells were also found to be potent stimulators in the allogeneic MLR. In addition, it was found that a high percentage of T lymphocytes from both peripheral blood and synovial tissue of rheumatoid patients bound anti‐HLA‐DR antibodies. The present data suggest a role for synovial lining cells in HLA‐D‐locus‐dependent events of importance in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis and other joint diseases and point to the need for further investigations on T lymphocytes derived from the site of inflammation in the study of rheumatoid arthritis.