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    J Invest Dermatol. 2008 Aug;128(8):1977-80. Epub 2008 Mar 13.

    Lack of functionally active Melan-A(26-35)-specific T cells in the blood of HLA-A2+ vitiligo patients.

    Adams S, Lowes MA, O'Neill DW, Schachterle S, Romero P, Bhardwaj N.

    Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA. sylvia.adams@med.nyu.edu

    Vitiligo, a skin disorder characterized by the spontaneous destruction of melanocytes, is believed to be of autoimmune origin. We investigated the presence and functionality of CD8(+) T-cells specific for the melanocyte-associated antigens Melan-A, gp100, tyrosinase, and TRP-2 in the blood of HLA-A2(+) vitiligo patients. We enumerated antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells by major histocompatibility complex multimer staining directly ex vivo, as well as after 9 days of in vitro stimulation and assessed IFN-gamma secretion by enzyme-linked immunospot (Elispot) assay. Tyrosinase-, gp100-, or TRP-2-specific CD8(+) T cells could not be identified in the peripheral blood of individuals with vitiligo. Although Melan-A-specific T cells were detectable at levels comparable to Flu-MP-specific T cells by multimer staining, these lymphocytes did not express the skin-homing receptor cutaneous lymphocyte antigen, were phenotypically naïve (CD45RA(+)), and were unresponsive in the IFN-gamma Elispot assay, suggesting that they are unlikely to be involved in the etiopathogenesis of vitiligo.

    PMID: 18337837 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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