The BRB consists of both capillary endothelial cells (REC) and retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE). Both cell types have been suggested as potential activators of circulating T cells. In this study, an <I>in vitro</I> model using cultured rat REC and syngeneic T cells was developed. Furthermore RPE and for the purpose of comparative studies, AEC were also successfully cultured. It was demonstrated that activation of T lymphocyte LFA-1 is a critical event governing the adhesion of T cells to RPE and REC as IFN-γ induced up-regulation of RPE and REC ICAM-1 expression did not increase binding of resting T lymphocytes. The enhanced adhesion of activated lymphocytes (but not resting lymphocytes) to normal and IFN-γ treated RPE and REC was inhibited by LFA-1 mAb and to a lesser extent by ICAM-1 mAb but not OX34 (CD2). Treatment of lymphocytes with the anti-VLA-4 mAb resulted in differential effects on binding to AEC and REC. MAb to VLA-4 significantly blocked enhanced adhesion of activated T cells to AEC but not to REC. The results also demonstrated that VLA-4 mAb significantly inhibited unactivated T cell binding to IFNγ+TNFα+LPS stimulated AEC but not REC, suggesting that VLA-4 may also function in an activation-independent manner. It was shown that activation of T cells can enhance their migratory activity across cultured REC monolayers. Migration was decreased by both adhesion receptor-dependent mechanisms i.e., mAb to LFA-1 (but not ICAM-1) and adhesion receptor-independent mechanisms by means of PGE<SUB>2</SUB>. The results of this thesis have shown that activation of LFA-1 is required for functioning of the LFA-1/ICAM-1-mediated lymphocyte adhesion and migration. In addition to the role of adhesion molecules, inflammatory mediator PGE<SUB>2</SUB>, but not NO<SUP>o</SUP>, was found to be important in regulation of T cell adhesion and migration across REC.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:320782 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Mesri, Mehdi |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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