Association of Activated T Cells and Dendritic Cells in Atherosclerotic Lesions in Apo E-Deficient Mice

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Bobryshev, Yuri V. Al-Naggar, Redhwan Ahmed Orekhov, Alexander N.
Abstract	Background: Antigen-specific T cell activation plays an important role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. T cell activation can occur only if antigen is presented to T cells by antigenpresenting cells expressing co-stimulatory signal molecules. Apo E-deficient mice are widely used for investigating the role of antigen-presenting dendritic cells in atherosclerosis. Although the accumulation of dendritic cells in developing atherosclerotic lesions in apo E-deficient mice has been shown, it is still unknown whether dendritic cells might activate T cells directly within atherosclerotic lesions. Aims: The present study was undertaken to examine this question. We investigated whether the marker T cell activation IL-2 receptor beta chain and the dendritic cell co-stimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86 were co-expressed in atherosclerotic lesion areas that contained co-localized T cells and dendritic cells. Methods: Aortic atherosclerotic plaques obtained from apo E knockout mice were studied using an immunohistochemical approach. Results: We found a co-localized expression of CD3, CD11c, CD80, CD86 and IL-2 receptor beta chain in all analyzed tissue specimens. This observation suggests that primary activation of T cells might occur directly within atherosclerotic lesions in apo E-deficient mice.
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