A Mycobacterial Heat-Shock Protein-Responsive T Cell Clone Also Responds to the Homologous Human Heat-Shock Protein: A Possible Link between Infection and Autoimmunity

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Abstract
Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells respond to a variety of stress conditions by increasing the synthesis of a family of proteins collectively known as heat-shock proteins (HSP). One of these, a 65-kDa HSP that is highly conserved in many bacteria, is a major target of the immune response to mycobacteria. A γδ T cell clone from a healthy donor that recognizes not only the 65-kDa mycobacterial HSP but also the recombinant human homologue of this HSP protein was raised. Like ocfJ T cell clones, which recognize mycobacterial HSP, the clone requires antigen-presenting cells for antigen-induced proliferation and can also bedirectly activated via receptor cross-linking through CD3 or the δ chain of the γδ T cell receptor. These data suggest that the induction of a γδ T cell response by bacterial antigens could lead to the expansion of cells that respond to autologous proteins and, therefore, may result in the development of autoimmunity.

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