Heat-Shock Protein 60-Reactive CD4 + CD28 null T Cells in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes

Abstract
Background— CD4+CD28null T cells are present in increased numbers in the peripheral blood of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) compared with patients with chronic stable angina (CSA). The triggers of activation and expansion of these cells to date remain unclear. Methods and Results— Twenty-one patients with ACS and 12 CSA patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease and 9 healthy volunteers were investigated. Peripheral blood leukocytes were stimulated with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), Chlamydia pneumoniae, human heat-shock protein 60 (hHSP60), or oxidized LDL (ox-LDL). CD4+CD28null cells were separated by flow cytometry and assessed for antigen recognition using upregulation of interferon-γ and perforin mRNA transcription as criteria for activation. CD4+CD28null cells from 12 of 21 patients with ACS reacted with hHSP60. No response was detected to HCMV, C pneumoniae, or ox-LDL. Incubation of the cells with anti-MHC class II and anti-CD4 antibodies but not anti-class I anti...

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