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CD4+CD7− leukemic T cells from patients with Sézary syndrome are protected from galectin-1-triggered T cell death

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Abstract

In early stages of cutaneous T cell lymphoma (Sézary syndrome) both CD4+CD7− and CD4+CD7+ T cells clonally expand whereas in late stages of the disease CD7− cells are predominant in number, giving rise to the question whether CD7− T cells have a survival advantage in the skin. Galectin-1, a cell-bound lectin, was recently reported to trigger apoptosis in activated CD7+ T cells. Here, we demonstrate that in contrast to activated CD7+ T cells, quiescent and activated CD69+ CD7− T cells from healthy donors and from Sézary patients are resistant to galectin-1-mediated cell death. CD7− T cells are apoptosis-resistant even during coculture with IFN-γ-stimulated endothelial cells that constitutively express galectin-1 in high amounts. These data imply that resistance of CD7− T cells to galectin-1-induced apoptosis may contribute to the accumulation of CD7− Sézary T cells during progression of the disease.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mrs K Hilgert for excellent technical assistance. We are grateful to the Bender-Stiftung, Munich, (to HA) and the Wilhelm-Sander-Stiftung, Munich, for financial support. This work was supported in part by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Re 690/4–2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, The Saarland University Hospital, Homburg/Saar, Germany

    G Rappl, W Tilgen, S Ugurel & U Reinhold

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Laboratory for Tumorgenetics and Cell Biology, University of Cologne, Germany

    H Abken

  3. Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University Hospital Charité, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

    JM Muche & W Sterry

  4. Institute of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

    S André, H Kaltner & H-J Gabius

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  1. G Rappl
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Rappl, G., Abken, H., Muche, J. et al. CD4+CD7− leukemic T cells from patients with Sézary syndrome are protected from galectin-1-triggered T cell death. Leukemia 16, 840–845 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2402438

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2402438

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