Open AccessAntigen‐presenting properties of gingival fibroblasts in chronic adult periodontitis
Author(s) -
WASSENAAR A.,
SNIJDERS A.,
ABRAHAMINPIJN L.,
KAPSENBERG M. L.,
KIEVITS F.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
clinical & experimental immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1365-2249
pISSN - 0009-9104
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1997.tb08328.x
Subject(s) - antigen , antigen presentation , immunology , connective tissue , cd8 , t cell , mhc class ii , periodontitis , major histocompatibility complex , superantigen , immune system , antigen presenting cell , mhc class i , cytokine , interferon gamma , biology , medicine , pathology , dentistry
Summary Chronic periodontitis is characterized by dense infiltrations of T lymphocytes in the connective tissue, which consists mainly of gingival fibroblasts. It is becoming increasingly clear that T lymphocytes and gingival fibroblasts are capable of influencing each other. For example, the T cell cytokine interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) is able to induce MHC class II molecules on the surface of several cell types, including gingival fibroblasts. Histological sections of chronically inflamed gingival tissue showed a great number of CD4 + and CD8 + T cells that produced IFN‐γ, and in addition showed abundant expression of MHC class II molecules on gingival fibroblasts. Therefore, we investigated whether these gingival fibroblasts acquire the capacity to carry out MHC class II‐restricted functions such as antigen presentation to local T cells. In this study, we show that IFN‐γ‐treated gingival fibroblasts were able to function as antigen‐presenting cells (APC) for superantigen‐mediated T cell proliferation. However, these fibroblasts failed to present whole‐cell antigens of periodontitis‐associated bacteria. Moreover, gingival fibroblasts inhibited the presentation of the whole‐cell antigens of these bacteria by professional APC. This inhibition could be overcome by the addition of IL‐2. These results suggest that gingival fibroblasts play an important role in the local specific immune response in chronic inflammatory periodontal lesions by regulating the response of infiltrating T cells.